Senjutsu for the Soul
by Nate Grey
Summary: Under the light of the red moon, Kushina alters the seal, and Naruto is only the first child to receive the Nine-Tails. A young Itachi steps up to save his brother and his village, and his quest to become a sage capable of molding demonic chakra begins. But the clock is ticking, and even if Itachi survives his attempt, one or more of the nine may not.
1. Heiress of Kurama

Notes: I wrote about seven different openings for this story because I couldn't decide which one was best. But this is the one I finally went with.

Summary: Under the light of the red moon, Kushina alters the seal, and Naruto is only the first child to receive the Nine-Tails. A young Itachi steps up to save his brother and his village, but the power needed to do so does not come cheap.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Judging by the way some of the people who technically do respond to and service the fanbase, I'm not even sure I'd want to now.

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><p><strong>Senjutsu for the Soul<strong>

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

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><p><strong>Prologue: The Heiress of Kurama<strong>

Kurama Yakumo had no idea what it meant to be normal. She had been raised by a collection of uncles and aunts, none of which were anything but strict with her. That much, at least, she understood: she was the heiress of the once mighty Kurama clan, blessed with unrivaled talent in genjutsu, and the entire clan's future depended on her becoming a great kunoichi.

That was what she had always been told, at least.

At the same time, Yakumo had been raised in isolation. She never saw any other children, and she was rarely even allowed to leave her own bedroom. She had never seen anything beyond the walls of her clan's manor, and rarely ever met or even saw a person that wasn't related to her.

It was perfectly safe, and at the same time, one of the worst curses imaginable.

Yakumo figured out very quickly that not one person in her family actually loved her. No one comforted her when she cried, no one held her when she was lonely, and no one ever told her that they cared for her.

No one except the voice in her head.

By the time she was six, Yakumo's talent in genjutsu had grown to the point where she could give this voice a physical form in every way that mattered. It looked exactly like her, at least to begin with. But over time, as Yakumo became more and more disconnected from humanity in general and her family in particular, the voice's body began to resemble a classical oni from one of her fantasy books. But it still listened to her when no one else did, so Yakumo didn't much care how it looked.

Painting and reading were the only hobbies that Yakumo was allowed outside of closely supervised training. Both were considered essential to her development: since she was never allowed outside, she had no other way of knowing what the world was like, and a Kurama's natural genjutsu talent would be wasted on a girl with no imagination. But the one thing Yakumo never did was waste her talent. As soon as she was certain that it would not be detected, she began casting simple illusions on a few of her relatives. She only commanded them only to bring her news, and in this way learned so much that had been kept from her.

Yakumo had been told that her parents lived outside the manor, in the nearby village of Konoha, where she would one day go to recieve ninja training. She learned that her parents were long dead, killed in a mysterious fire when she was just a baby.

She had been told that she was the only surviving member of the main branch of the family, but this was technically false. Yakumo's grandmother had had an illegitimate son by an unknown man, but the boy was never recognized by the clan. He had grown up in Konoha and started his own family, and was killed when the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the village. His daughter was still listed among those missing but never confirmed dead.

Based on the little information she'd gathered, Yakumo had painted her late uncle as a short, muscular man with shoulder-length dark red hair, and hard, green eyes like small chips of emerald. Yakumo sometimes hoped that her cousin had survived, not out of any feelings of love, but because she wanted nothing more than to abandon all the responsibilities her clan had heaped upon her. Another potential heiress would force the clan to reconsider Yakumo's role, no matter what her cousin's origin had been. Their numbers were now too few to be picky about who returned them to their former glory.

The things that Yakumo painted had a way of coming true. Sometimes this was due entirely to her talent with genjutsu, subconscious or otherwise. Sometimes, however, she firmly believed that it was simply the hand of fate.

So when Yakumo woke up one night to find a pink-haired girl with emerald eyes standing over her, she knew, without question, that she was no longer alone in the world, and that her hopes had finally been answered.

"Don't worry, Yakumo-chan," the girl said with a warm smile. "I'm your cousin Sakura. I'm here to take you home with me."

If Yakumo had still been thinking of the manor where she'd spent her whole life as home, such a statement might have at least been puzzling. But she accepted it at once, and stared at the slightly older girl. "You're Uncle Hibiki's daughter."

Sakura nodded, her smile lessening somewhat. "I didn't think they'd told you about either of us."

"They didn't," Yakumo replied as she went to her closet, selected a traveling cloak, and pulled it on over her nightclothes. "I had to find out for myself. I'm glad I did." It was then that she noticed the boy with long, dark hair, leaning in the doorway without a care in the world. "Who's he?"

"Shikamaru," Sakura answered without looking. "A friend of mine."

Yakumo noticed then the way there seemed to be shadows pooling around Shikamaru's feet, but had dreamed up stranger things herself, so again, didn't question it. Instead, she grabbed her paints, stuffed them into a small carrying case, strapped it onto her back, and turned to face Sakura. "I'm ready."

Sakura blinked and opened her mouth, clearly about to ask if Yakumo was sure she only wanted to take a cloak and paint set with her. Then her mouth flattened into a thin line, and without warning, she stepped forward and swept Yakumo into her arms, hugging her tightly.

It was the first time that Yakumo could ever recall being hugged, and at first she had no idea how to react. Certainly Sakura was only doing this out of pity. It wasn't as if they even really knew each other yet. But then she felt Sakura's lips brush against her ear, and heard the heartfelt words.

"I'm so sorry I left you here with them, Yakumo-chan. But I'll never leave you behind again. I swear it on the blood we share."

Yakumo did not cry. She had long ago become convinced that it simply did her no good. All the same, she felt the need to release something that was building up inside her. "Do either of you have a fear of fire?" she asked.

Sakura drew back and stared at her uncertainly. "No. Why?"

"Because it's going to seem very hot pretty soon," Yakumo said, closing her eyes. "I'll do my best not to target you, but I can't make any promises."

At this, Shikamaru stood up straight. "Hey, if you can't aim properly, maybe you shouldn't be-"

"Leave the fire to me, Yakumo-chan," Sakura interrupted. "I've had more practice at it, so my aim is probably better."

Yakumo smiled as the hallway was suddenly enveloped in flames. "I guess you really are my cousin. But I hope we don't actually have to walk through that."

"Leave that to me," Shikamaru said. The shadows at his feet rushed into the hallway and sprang up, forming a dark door against the wall.

"How will that help?" Yakumo asked uncertainly.

Sakura smiled and took her hand. "Don't worry. Just believe in us."

Yakumo nodded, but still had her doubts as she followed Shikamaru and Sakura out into the hallway. The doubts were replaced with wonder the moment Shikamaru came in contact with the door, and continued forward as if walking into a tunnel. The same happened to Sakura, and then Yakuma as she passed through. "How...?" she whispered.

"Let's just say that there are some things hiding in the dark that you should be afraid of, and leave it at that," Shikamaru replied without turning around.

The tunnel came to an end just outside of the manor. They had only taken a few steps from it when the tunnel collapsed into shadows again, which rushed back to Shikamaru's feet. Yakumo stared at the gaping hole in the manor where the tunnel had been previously, then shook her head and decided there was no time to figure out what had just happened.

They hadn't gone far when a kunai slammed into the ground just in front of Shikamaru's foot.

"Not another step!" an elderly voice roared. Yakumo recognized it at once and tensed up, but both Sakura and Shikamaru remained fairly calm as the old man melted out of night with a scowl on his face.

"Stay out of our way if you don't want to get hurt," Shikamaru warned, sounding bored.

The old man's eyebrows narrowed. "You think I would just let you walk out of here with Yakumo? How dare you insult the Kurama clan, boy! I, Kurama Unkai, will not allow it!"

"Don't get involved, oji-san!" Yakumo shouted. "Just let us leave!"

Unkai ignored her, and was about to bring his hands together for a technique when his gaze landed on Sakura, and more specifically, her pink hair. There was a brief pause, and then the air was suddenly filled with kunai, all aimed at Sakura.

The shadows at Shikamaru's feet sprang up, creating a dark barrier between the projectiles and Sakura, but each one vanished on impact. Shikamaru's attention was ahead of him, so he didn't notice when an elderly hand with a kunai emerged from the ground near Sakura's foot. But as the kunai slashed at Sakura's ankles, she vanished, just as a large rock crashed down onto Unkai's arm with a horrid snapping sound.

Unkai hissed in pain as he managed to cancel the illusion with his free hand and roll away, but his arm remained useless as the three children surrounded him.

"I'm guessing since you're trying to kill me that you know who I am?" Sakura asked mildly.

Unkai glared at her. "Of course I do. That you still draw breath is a mark of eternal shame on our clan."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Just to clarify, you hate her because of her family, right?"

"She should have died long ago, with all the other Uzumaki."

Sakura blinked at that, and traded surprised looks with Shikamaru. "I think you're confused. I'm not an Uzumaki."

Unkai snorted. "There's no mistake. Your hair is proof. Your father was born with the same deep red hair that they were so proud of."

"That's it? That's the only reason you can think of to hate her?" Shikamaru asked. "Because she's related to a bunch of people that don't exist anymore? Couldn't you at least blame her for something she actually has some control over?"

"I will not waste more time defending my reasons," Unkai snapped, slowly getting to his feet. "Yakumo is not going anywhere, and you two are going to die here."

"Big talk for an old man with a busted arm," Shikamaru snorted. "I think you really don't know who we are."

Unkai frowned, not liking the boy's confidence. "You stand against the current head of the Kurama clan. Exactly why should I be afraid of you?"

"It's easier if we show you," Sakura replied, squeezing Yakumo's hand.

In that instant, Yakumo saw exactly what Sakura meant to do, as well as the part she wanted Yakumo to play in it. Illusions were second nature to Yakumo, and she sensed that they were for Sakura as well. It was almost eerie, how quickly they began to breath in synch, and when Yakumo felt Sakura's chakra blanketing the area, it was a simple matter to add her own into the mix.

Yakumo had come up with things that were nearly as terrifying, but even she would not have dared to create this particular illusion herself, at least not against a local. Thankfully, Sakura only wanted her help for the background, so Yakumo was spared creating the worst part. She knew it had worked at once: the blood drained out of Unkai's face, and a very noticeable wet patch began to form at his crotch as he sank to his knees. There was no more hatred in his eyes, only terror. The fight was over.

Shikamaru was the first to turn and walk away. Sakura followed, tugging Yakumo along behind her. But before they could leave the property and vanish into the surrounding forest, Unkai spoke one last word. Yakumo could tell he meant it less as a statement of fact, and more as a final warning to her.

"Jinchūriki," he whispered.

Yakumo froze at once. She had known Unkai all of her life, and he had never been a man to share secrets lightly. Even Yakumo only knew what the word meant because she had drawn it out of the mind of an ANBU that visited the manor. There could be only one reason why Unkai would blurt out the word now, having never used it to Yakumo's knowledge before. Worse, it explained so much: Sakura's disappearance from the village, her enormous genjutsu talent, the very illusion she had chosen, and why it had seemed so very real, even by Yakumo's admittedly high standards.

"Yakumo-chan? What's wrong?"

Yakumo blinked, realizing that Sakura and Shikamaru were both staring at her. It was obvious at once that they either hadn't heard the word, or were doing a supremely good job of pretending they hadn't. But it didn't matter: whether it was a trick of the moonlight or simply a product of Yakumo's own mind, Sakura's eyes seemed to glow bright red.

"N-Nothing," Yakumo murmured. "It's nothing."

But it wasn't, Yakumo realized as they kept venturing forward. It wasn't nothing. It could, in fact, be everything. She didn't realize that her concern was so obvious, however, until about ten minutes later, when Shikamaru brought them to a halt at a ditch along the road, where they crouched down to rest. Yakumo certainly needed it, as she had never been in peak physical condition, and hadn't run so long in quite a while.

"It's going to bother you until you ask, Yakumo-chan," Sakura said abruptly. She was pointedly not looking at her cousin's face, which Yakumo suspected could mean nothing good.

"Are you a jinchūriki?" Yakumo asked softly, her eyes round with worry.

"Yes," Sakura replied simply.

Yakumo stared at her, until Shikamaru chimed in, "We both are." Yakumo's head whipped to him, and he was also avoiding her gaze.

"B-Both of you? How is that possible? Was there more than one tailed beast that attacked the village?"

"No, just the one," Shikamaru sighed. "But it was the most powerful one, so extraordinary methods were used."

Yakumo bit her lip. "So... two jinchūriki were needed?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know if I'd go so far as to say two were needed. The popular theory is always that only one is absolutely necessary per tailed beast. But that isn't the way things worked out for us."

"It's okay, you know," Sakura murmured. "If you don't want to stay with us because of this. We'd understand." She looked as if she had been expecting and dreading this point in the night.

"Was it a lie?" Yakumo demanded at once. "When you said you wouldn't leave me behind again? Were you lying?"

Sakura blinked and turned to stare at her cousin, clearly shocked.

"You promised," Yakumo whispered, her eyes narrowing. "You promised on our blood!"

Sakura shook her head in wonder. "You mean, you don't care that-?"

"I'm one, too!" Yakumo cried, leaping to her feet.

Sakura and Shikamaru tensed as Yakumo's chakra spiked and then skyrocketed. A black, tar-like substances dripped from her eyes and gushed from her mouth, forming a dark puddle that rose from the ground and began to rapidly assume a vaguely humanoid shape. In seconds, the puddle had become a monster with protruding fangs and an elongated horn jutting from either side of its head. It towered over them, wearing what looked a great deal like a set of Yakumo's clothes, which didn't suit or fit its lanky body in the least.

"See?" Yakumo shrieked, pointing at it. "This is my demon! I'm a jinchūriki, too! So..." She trailed off, and then her expression crumpled as she collapsed and buried her face in her hands. "So please don't leave me behind!"

Sakura and Shikamaru glanced at each other, even as the demon bent over Yakumo and began to awkwardly pet her brown hair with a clawed hand clearly not intended for such affection. Sakura soon joined it, wrapping her arms around Yakumo and rocking her gently back and forth.

"Don't cry, Yakumo-chan. We won't leave you." Sakura paused and glanced thoughtfully up at the demon. "Does it have a name?"

"I call it Uroko," Yakumo said between her sobs. "It was my mother's name."

It was clear from the embarrassed look on the monster's face that this was not even close to being its true name, but it said nothing against Yakumo as it sank into the ground and vanished from view.

"This is going to be troublesome, isn't it?" Shikamaru asked after a long moment.

Sakura glanced back at him and smirked. "No more troublesome than any of us, I imagine."

"We should probably tell her about our neighbors, though."

"That can wait," Sakura insisted.

"Along with the part about you being mistaken for one of Naruto's relatives?"

Sakura paused with her mouth open. "I'm not so sure that was a mistake, Shika. Kushina-sama had deep red hair, too, and we know where Naruto's hair comes from. If my grandfather was an Uzumaki, and Unkai was right, then... maybe."

Shikamaru chuckled, and found himself unable to stop. "Man, Naruto's going to hate this. He just has no luck with women."

Sakura laughed as well, though hers was more strained and almost bitter. "We'd better keep moving. The sooner we're back in the village, the less likely we'll be followed."

"I almost forgot," Yakumo murmured, wiping her face on her sleeve as they started to run again. "What's your family name, Sakura? I need to know what to call myself from now on."

"I think you have the wrong idea, Yakumo-chan. Mine is the same as yours, and yours isn't changing."

Yakumo stared at her uncertainly. "But... surely your family hasn't been calling itself Kurama all this time while not being part of the clan. They would have never accepted that."

"You asked for her family name, and she gave it to you," Shikamaru replied. "You didn't ask if she had ever changed it, which she did."

"There's no need to change your name," Sakura explained. "As for why I changed mine, I felt it was right at the time, and I still do. We're daughters of the same clan, and anyone who has a problem with that will just have a problem with it. You should always take pride in who you really are."

"And who are you, really?" Yakumo asked hesitantly.

Sakura smiled at her. "I told you already: I'm your cousin. Your roommate, too, if you want. Or you could take one of the other apartments in our complex. The whole thing was empty before we moved in, so there's plenty of room."

"Um, I don't have any money," Yakumo murmured, looking embarrassed.

"Neither do we," Shikamaru pointed out. "The Hokage arranged everything." Noticing Yakumo's worried expression, he quickly added, "It's fine. He gave us permission to come get you."

"Actually, he gave us permission to visit our families," Sakura corrected. "But considering we hardly caused any damage, he'll probably overlook this."

"But what makes you think he won't try to separate us?" Yakumo asked.

"He won't," Sakura insisted. "He owes us that much."

Yakumo started to ask about that, but Shikamaru cut her off. "It's a very long story, and now isn't the best time to tell it. Once you're home, and you've gotten the place all girly, then you two can stay up and talk all night."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, he isn't living with us. I'll introduce you to everyone else later. They're an odd bunch, but they're good people. You can trust them."

Yakumo sensed from the way that Sakura spoke about these people that she already trusted them herself, just as she also sensed that there was plenty that Sakura hadn't told her yet. But that didn't matter just then. For the first time in her life, Yakumo knew what it was to be free, and the only direction she was interested in going was forward, together with her cousin and her first friend.

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><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 1: A Mother's Curse<strong>

Only one child had to be chosen. But Kushina refused to leave her son entirely alone, and saw to it that Naruto would have dependable comrades: bound by love, friendship, pain, and the same curse he would bear for the village's sake.


	2. A Mother's Curse

Notes: That image of a young Itachi holding an infant Sasuke stuck in my brain, which led to this story.

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><p><strong>Senjutsu for the Soul<strong>

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman1023-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 1: A Mother's Curse**

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><p>The moon that night was blood red, but barely anyone in the village of Konoha even noticed.<p>

Most civilians were simply thankful to still have their own lives, but many homes and businesses had been lost in the devastation. Even the village's most prominent ninja clans had suffered heavy losses, whether they had been on the front lines or not.

But only a small handful of people knew of the greatest loss that day.

Uzumaki Kushina was fairly well known in Konoha, if for no other reasons than her exceptional talent with seals, bright red hair, and rather unladlylike mouth. Few knew of her true importance: she was the current jailer of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, one of the most destructive forces to ever roam the land.

Or she had been, up until a few hours ago. Now she was dead.

Like most of the people that found themselves in her position, Kushina had not chosen to contain the demon. She had never suspected that her people, and indeed, her very way of life, might be virtually erased as she knew them. And she had certainly not chosen to have only a few precious moments with her newborn son, Naruto.

But very little about being a demon container was about choice. Mostly it was about survival, discovering a purpose for yourself so that you didn't go mad or sink under crushing despair, and snatching happiness whenever and wherever you could find it.

It was not a fate that Kushina would ever have chosen to pass on to her only child. Failing that, it was not a fate that Naruto alone would have to suffer through. The least she could do was give him comrades who would become his family in her place, and bless the new generation of Konoha with unbeatable protectors.

The only problem with that was that Kushina, unlike her husband, was a realist. She would love to have believed that Konoha would accept Naruto and his burden with open arms.

Only she didn't.

And no mother in her right mind would hand her innocent baby boy over to a village that was more likely to sacrifice him again than lift a finger to help raise him. It wasn't as if Minato would be around to ensure Naruto's safety, after all: he was going to be dead, too. Maybe he didn't plan for it, or maybe he had, and had just managed to hide it from her, but Kushina had lived by trusting her gut, and her gut said that Naruto was going to be a very lonely orphan despite their best efforts.

It was fortunate, then, that the seal meant for Naruto required some effort on both her and Minato's parts. Kushina had taught Minato everything he knew about seals, and as was just common sense among ninjas, of course she hadn't taught him everything that she knew. Naruto's original seal was an extremely complicated array that only Minato and Kushina completely understood. There had been very little time to double-check Minato's work, but Kushina knew her husband, and could easily predict his thoughts most of the time. Based on that, she had designed an alternate seal for Naruto. It was far less complicated than the original, but there was still a use for that one as well.

Minato's seal would have placed the entire burden of containing the Nine-Tails' Yang chakra squarely on Naruto's shoulders. This, while not impossible, was still highly impractical, especially considering the environment that Naruto would be growing up in, with largely only himself to depend on.

Kushina's seal changed Naruto's main role to that of an anchor, and in her plans, two others would share that role with him. The main idea was that he would not carry such a heavy burden alone. Minato would not have approved. He was all about fairness and not asking anything of someone that he wouldn't do himself.

Kushina, on the other hand, was a mother on her deathbed. She didn't care what Minato thought, she didn't care what the village thought, and she certainly didn't care about what was right and proper. All she cared about was Naruto, and on that issue, she figured she deserved to be selfish. The village certainly had been, with her life and the life of the demon container before her. As far as she was concerned, they owed her, and she was collecting early. Really, her plan was still in the village's best interest, but it required a price that no one had agreed to pay. It was entirely Minato's fault for even putting the idea in her head (though he had admittedly stated it was something he would never do without the village's consent, she still gave him credit for it).

Instead of one container for the Nine-Tails' chakra, there would be nine.

Instead of one child's happiness, future, and indeed, very life sacrificed, there would be nine.

Instead of an entire village managing to abuse or ignore the existence of a single child with a demon's power, they would have to face the reality of turning their backs on nine separate children.

And if they could really do that, then Kushina was all too happy to be rid of them.

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><p>Uchiha Fugaku was the first to notice the blood red moon. He was concerned, but not yet alarmed. If tainting the moon red was within the scope of the Nine-Tails' power, it would not have shocked him.<p>

But what happened next certainly did.

Nine black spirals appeared on the red moon's surface, and from each of those spirals came forth a column of red moonlight.

Had he looked closer, Fugaku might have noticed that each column had, without fail, fallen on a certain location in the village. But all he noticed was that one of them had fallen on an old shrine, beneath which was the safehouse where his wife and infant son were hidden.

Every instinct in his body urged Fugaku forward, and he ran like a man possessed until he finally burst into the safehouse, and very nearly got a kunai in the throat for his trouble.

His wife Mikoto dropped the weapon at once, horrified by what she had nearly done. "What's the matter with you? Why didn't you use the safeword? Do you know what I almost-"

"Sasuke!" Fugaku panted, grabbing her arms and giving her a firm shake. "Is he-?"

"He's fine," Mikoto snapped, though she sighed when the baby instantly woke up and began to whimper. "Well, he was, until you came charging in here."

Fugaku ignored her and moved to the crib, peering anxiously at the small boy half-hidden in blankets. For a moment, the Uchiha clan head began to relax.

But then Sasuke rolled over, sleepily cracked open one of his eyes, revealing the exact same light of the demon moon within them.

Again, Fugaku acted on pure instinct. He slowly reached for his son, his hand steady. It would take no time at all, he knew.

But Sasuke, either reading his intent or acting on instinct himself, scrunched up his face and began to howl.

Mikoto had recovered her kunai and was peering into the tunnel expectantly, still assuming that there was some threat Fugaku had forgotten to mention. As Sasuke's cries increased in volume, she was just about to tell her husband to leave the child alone and let her settle him.

But a sudden blast of heat rolled over her back, and when Mikoto spun around, all she saw was the dark red aura around Sasuke's crib winking out, and what remained of her husband's body falling to the floor as so many ashes.

For several seconds, the idea that her husband was dead simply did not register. But Mikoto was a jounin, and all it took was a single step to remind her of her duties, both to the clan and her sons. Swallowing the sob that had been building in her throat, she cautiously took another step, pausing just beyond Fugaku's ashes. "Sasuke?" she whispered.

The answering coo was reassuring enough, and when Mikoto dared to look into the crib, Sasuke's usual smile awaited her, his chubby fingers already reaching toward the sound of her voice.

It did not take long for Mikoto to realize what must have happened, though the how and why of it was beyond her just then. Shaking her head in wonder, she carefully picked up Sasuke and cradled him to her breast. His only response was to latch onto her shirt with a little fist and close his eyes again.

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><p>It was not long before similar incidents began occurring all over the village. Soon it was public knowledge that there were multiple children in Konoha that seemed to contain the cursed power of the Nine-Tails itself. It was also, known, however, that these children were largely from prominent ninja clans, and that any hostility toward such children would be met with lethal force, if not from the clan, then certainly from the child itself.<p>

The Sandaime Hokage was forced to take action. Some kind of quarantine (though he preferred to think of it as a necessary separation) was needed: already some of the deaths related to attacks on the children included their very own parents, determined to free their formerly pure children from the fox's taint. The Sandaime quickly gave orders to round up each child and a single relative who could be trusted to care for them. This restriction was largely to prevent Konoha's forces from being too severely weakened, but as it turned out, in most cases only a single relative was even available to care for the children at all. Either one or more parents had not survived, or was prevented by duties and could not be spared. In any case, the Sandaime did not feel the children would be safe in the village. He first considered other locations within the Land of Fire, but soon realized that anyone determined enough would still be able to reach them. What he needed was a location with truly limited access, only reachable by those who had no wish to harm the children. Truthfully, he already had one in mind, but it would take time to make the proper arrangements.

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><p>"I am sorry about this, Mikoto-san, but it is necessary, for the time being."<p>

Uchiha Itachi raised his head as the words reached his ears, frowning as he watched his mother (and now only surviving parent) speak with the Sandaime Hokage. Though her voice was calm, Itachi could still sense the underlying anxiety in his mother's words. He found this odd: his mother had been surprisingly composed, both over the issue of his father's death, and the idea of raising her two sons virtually alone. He wondered what could possibly have shaken her now. Without even realizing that he was doing so, Itachi swiftly moved across the small room, both to better hear the conversation, and to offer what little comfort he could.

"I completely understand our having to be isolated, Hokage-sama," his mother was saying. "But please, is there any word on Naruto? I realize that officially, I'm in no position to make demands concerning him, but with both his parents gone, I'm surely the closest thing he has to a mother left. I need to be sure he's safe, for Kushina's sake."

The old man smiled reassuringly. "Naruto is in good hands. I have a very dependable friend bringing him here now. You should be able to see him shortly."

"I was hoping to do more than see him," Mikoto admitted.

The Hokage blinked. "I have no objection to you nursing him, if that's what you mean. I'm sure Kushina would have wanted the same."

"Kushina would have wanted me to raise her son as if he were one of mine," Mikoto insisted, "and I have every intention of doing so."

There was a long pause before the Sandaime answered. "I admit I hadn't considered that possibility."

Mikoto glared at him. "Are you saying I'm not qualified?"

"No, only that I hadn't considered it. Are you sure you want another child now, Mikoto-san? You just lost your husband, and I think even you will have your hands full with young Sasuke."

"It's not about what I want. It's about what is right, for Naruto. That I know his name at all should be proof enough that his parents trusted me. As for Sasuke, with his father dead, I doubt he'd object to more family, adopted or otherwise. Itachi feels the same way."

The old man glanced at Itachi, who by then had drifted to his mother's side. "Is that true, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi carefully checked the bundle of swaddling clothes fixed to his chest before answering softly. "It would be an honor to help raise the son of our village's greatest hero, Hokage-sama," he replied, mindful of his sleeping baby brother. "Please grant my mother's request."

"There are many who would not be pleased with such an arrangement," the Hokage pointed out reasonably.

"Anyone that has a problem with Naruto going to a loving home doesn't have his best interests in mind, anyway, so I have no idea why you'd give them a say in what happens to him." Mikoto lowered her voice. "He's just a baby that lost his parents. You can't deprive him of a family for no reason at all. He needs to be loved, and we will give him that."

The Hokage nodded. "I will take it under advisement, Mikoto-san. That is all I can promise for now. But I have no objection to leaving Naruto in your care for the time being, while I attend to other matters. You will be informed when-"

The door burst open, and Itachi's hand was already reaching for the kunai concealed in his waistband as a tall, cloaked ANBU walked in, carrying his own bundle.

"Apologies, Hokage-sama," the man in the bear mask said in gravelly voice. "I ran into some obstacles, but your package is secure."

The Hokage carefully reached into the bundle and moved aside the layers. Itachi caught a glimpse of golden hair before the bundle was closed up again, revealing only a tiny, red-splotched face. "I appreciate your efforts, Bear. I'll need you to supervise the remaining deliveries."

Bear nodded and vanished at once, the door clicking shut behind him.

The Sandaime turned to Mikoto, holding the bundle out to her. "I trust I don't need to remind you-"

"I remember the standard protocol for an S-Rank, Hokage-sama," Mikoto interrupted, quickly extracting the infant from the bundle and cradling him to her shoulder, "and as you pointed out, this isn't my first baby."

"One can never be too careful with such precious cargo, Mikoto-san," the old man sighed. "If all goes well, you four shouldn't be alone much longer. Please assist the others in any way you can. I expect some of them will be far too young and inexperienced."

Suddenly, the baby began to fuss. Mikoto carefully shifted him to one arm, gently pressing his face into the curve of her neck. "Don't worry, Naruto-chan," she murmured, stroking the back of his head. "You're safe now." Naruto immediately quieted, and after a few seconds, Mikoto lowered him back into his bundle.

The Sandaime allowed himself a small smile, but quickly stowed it. He had many other matters to attend to, but for now, young Naruto was comfortable, if not happy. It was more than many people in Konoha had just then, and the Hokage swept from the room to see what he could do to fix that.

* * *

><p>Bear's next stop was a certain underground shelter, one that he had strict instructions to ensure the safety of after delivering Naruto to the Sandaime. He was mildly relieved to see that there was no structural damage to the tunnel leading to the entrance, but that faded once he reached the door.<p>

There was no guard. This was a cause for concern, because the one thing that Hyūga always used was guards, whether they were necessary or not. At the very least, there should have been one posted to check Bear's credentials. Something must have gone wrong.

The moment he stepped inside, Bear saw what was wrong: something had exploded. And he had been an ANBU long enough to know that the something was definitely a human body, or had been previously. Now all that remained was a large area of blood splatter and a curious, bright orange sphere resting on a stone table. The sphere was about the size of two large mixing bowls pressed together, and despite resting in the epicenter of the explosion, was oddly free of blood itself.

Bear was not a psychic, but he could put two and two together. He had been sent to check the status of Hyūga Hiashi's then unborn daughter. If she was born and sealed, he was to retrieve her and a single relative, no matter what the clan said. Given what he had seen with the first child, he had expected far worse from this clan.

After a moment, he took a few steps forward. At once, the sphere began to pulse and glow dark red. Bear slowly approached it, and laid his gloved hand on the sphere's surface. That he could feel the incredible heat through the glove was no real surprise. That the special seal applied to the fabric held and actually kept his hand from being consumed was, however.

"Everything is going to be fine, little one," Bear stated. "I'm going to take you to the Hokage now. He will ensure your protection."

No newborn should have understood that, especially not when delivered in Bear's voice, which was comparable to a growl on even his best days. But the first one had, and this one apparently did, too: the sphere stopped glowing, and the heat faded somewhat, but it continued to pulse as Bear started to pick it up.

That was when the boy with the Byakugan came out of the darkness and tried to stab him with a kunai.

"Put Hinata-sama down!" the boy shouted, just before Bear punched him in the face with enough force to lay him flat on his back.

"Can't do that, kid," Bear replied calmly as the boy lay there twitching. "Hokage's orders. So you can either get hit again, or you can come along quietly. I assume they left you here to guard her?"

The boy slowly sat up, holding his bloody nose and glaring at Bear. "Where are you taking her?"

"Nowhere you're not allowed to go. So, again: you coming?"

The boy nodded and got to his feet, his hand tightening on the kunai.

"Don't bother, you'll just embarrass us both," Bear chuckled. "What's your name, kid?"

"Hyūga Kō," the boy replied.

"Congratulations, then. By order of the Sandaime Hokage, you are now officially the kid's legal guardian for the time being, assuming a more qualified relative fails to claim her. Which I'm betting they won't until she's proven to be battle-ready."

Kō's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing else as he followed Bear, and the precious cargo he was carrying, out of the shelter, at a distance.

* * *

><p>Inuzuka Hana was, in many ways, still a child herself. True, she had entered the Ninja Academy, and was near the top of her class, but that didn't make her an adult, anymore than it made a genin ready for an A-rank mission. Certainly she wasn't ready to be a mother, either.<p>

But for all intents and purposes, she was now. Because only an hour earlier, her mother had shoved Hana's squealing baby brother into her arms, and told her to look after him. It wasn't an easy choice: Inuzuka just weren't wired to accept the idea of abandoning their own. Hana suspected it had something to do with the way people were suddenly looking at her brother with fear, and the odd black circle that had been briefly visible on his belly.

Now she was sitting in a small, dark room, her baby was crying, and there was only one other person there that Hana suspected could help quiet him down.

"Uchiha-san, could you help me, please?" Hana begged, wincing as the wailing baby boy in her hands hit an even higher note.

Mikoto smiled kindly and nodded at the seat next to her. "Sit down, and we'll switch babies for a minute."

The young girl bit her lip nervously. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I'm pretty new at this, and I wouldn't want to hurt your son."

Mikoto laughed softly. "I doubt there's any real danger of that. Come on, sit down. This won't take long."

Nodding, Hana sat down beside the older woman, and soon found herself holding a sleeping baby boy, one who curiously lacked all of the expected physical traits of an Uchiha. She was just going to ask about that when she realized that the wailing had cut off abruptly. Hana looked over to see her baby sleeping peacefully as Mikoto gently rocked him back and forth. "H-How did you...?"

"He was tired from all the crying, anyway. All he needed as a little nudge. What's your brother's name, dear?"

"It's Kiba," Hana murmured, still in awe. "I'm-"

"Hana, right? My Itachi has mentioned you."

Hana turned bright red, unable to stop herself from fidgeting nervously. "He has? Really?"

Mikoto smiled. "Yes," she replied simply, offering nothing more. The truth was that Itachi made a point to learn the name of anyone from a prominent clan, more because he wanted to know where his main competition would be coming from than anything else. But if allowing Hana to think Itachi was interested in her gave her a bit more confidence, which she would need to take care of little Kiba, that was fine, too.

Hana eventually remembered what she'd wanted to ask. "Um, I haven't seen many Uchiha with this hair color."

Mikoto sighed. "I'm adopting him. He lost both of his parents in the attack. They were good friends of mine."

"Oh." Hana could think of nothing else to say, except: "He's cute."

"That he is," Mikoto agreed. "Naruto-chan takes after his father, I think."

Hana blinked. "His name is Naruto?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, it is," Mikoto said firmly. "A good, strong name for a good, strong boy." She paused. "Not as good as Sasuke or Itachi, of course, but still."

Hana giggled. "My mother likes simple names. Kiba and I could have easily been named after food, too."

"Tsume is a good woman and a good mother. I envy her."

"You do?" Hana asked in shock. "Why?"

"I love my boys, but every mother wants one girl, I think. Don't you think so, Hana?"

Hana shrugged. "All I want right now is for Kiba to know how to talk, so I don't have to guess what he's crying for."

Mikoto stared at her. "I thought for sure you would want not to be in this position. Taking care of a baby isn't easy at your age."

"He's my brother," Hana insisted, looking insulted. "My age doesn't matter."

Mikoto smiled and patted Hana's head, making her blush again. "You're Tsume's girl through and through."

* * *

><p>Itachi had seen how adults usually behaved around babies. That, he was used to.<p>

But he was quickly beginning to understand that there was nothing usual about the current situation.

His mother had not given him all of the details. She had only said that Sasuke now had a special power inside of him, and that now more than ever, Itachi would need to protect him. Itachi was no fool: while barely a ninja himself, at least officially, he knew the basics of chakra and how it was supposed to feel. Sasuke's was no longer normal, but Itachi recognized that he only knew that because he had sensed Sasuke's chakra before, when it had been normal. Now it was thicker, darker, and more imposing, but only when Sasuke was clearly upset.

On some level, Itachi feared what his little brother might become one day. But on another, he understood that Sasuke's life was in his hands, for good or for bad. That was why he'd obtained permission from his mother to sit in the nursery that the Sandaime had set up for the tainted children. Sasuke had woken up and begun to fuss the moment they were inside, and Itachi now knew why.

There was only one other child in the nursery, and he was kept in a box of thick, protective glass. He looked very small and thin for a baby, and when he breathed out, a dark violet mist sprayed from his nose and mouth, staining the box with every breath. Itachi thought he seemed very sad and alone, but the nurses that frequently checked on them had forbidden Itachi from getting any closer, saying it was dangerous. None of them seemed to know the baby's name, either, or they just hadn't cared enough to share it with Itachi.

It wasn't long before a new occupant was brought in by Bear, the same ANBU that Itachi had met before. He gave the Uchiha brothers a brief glance before placing a strange, orange sphere in one of the empty beds. Bear started to leave when he noticed the other child, alone at the far end of the nursery. After a moment's hesitation, he transferred the sphere to the bed nearest the mist-breathing boy, then quickly left.

Within seconds, the sphere began to glow, and the mist-breathing boy rolled onto his side to stare at it, apparently transfixed. Then, with a loud cracking noise, the sphere split in two, releasing a large blast of heat into the air.

Nurses seemed to appear out of nowhere, and then there was a huge flurry of activity that Itachi couldn't keep up with. He caught words like "December due date" and "premature" being tossed back and forth, but wasn't sure what they meant until one of the nurses moved aside. Itachi caught a glimpse of a tiny baby girl, even smaller and less developed than the mist-breathing boy.

She was staring straight at him with wide, blank eyes that held no color at all in them. She opened her mouth, possibly to cry, but one of the nurses immediately, and Itachi's mind, roughly, slipped a tube into her throat, and secured a tiny breathing mask over her nose and mouth. Itachi almost stood up in outrage and ordered them to stop, but realized that his experience with babies was limited to Sasuke, who had been born with no real complications. For all he knew, whatever the nurses were doing might well have saved the girl's life, even if it looked painful to him.

But Itachi knew for sure that he didn't want to be there while they did it. By the way Sasuke was growing increasingly wriggly, neither did he. Turning away, Itachi moved to the door.

He was a step away from it when he felt dark, familiar chakra flare behind him, and a wall of heat rolled over him. It felt like he'd just walked into a spa, but it passed quickly, leaving the skin of his back slightly moist with sweat. The door hadn't been as lucky: it was now fused shut.

Itachi turned around. The nurses were suddenly complaining about faulty equipment, but did not seem to have noticed the door, or the chakra flare. Given all that Itachi had seen lately, it was entirely possible that they were used to such things already.

The baby girl was still staring at him. Only now her arm, which had been folded at her side, was stretched out, as if reaching for him.

The thought was a dangerous one, and Itachi's instincts screamed at him to ignore it, but he couldn't. Though he rarely ever felt like it anymore, he was a still a child himself. If this girl's future was what he thought it was, really, what could it hurt to show a little compassion now?

Itachi moved forward, pushing his way through the nurses, and leaned over the girl's bed. Her eyes followed his face, and her arm trembled slightly. Itachi understood at once that she was trying to raise it, but lacked the strength. Ignoring the nearest nurse's protest, he reached down and carefully pressed his right hand to the baby girl's cheek. She immediately turned into his touch, closing her eyes and resting her cheek in his palm.

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispered, wishing he could offer her more than just that. But for the moment, at least, it seemed to be enough.

* * *

><p>"All nine children have been secured," Bear reported as he and the Hokage hurried toward an emergency meeting with the village council. "Unfortunately, there have been some complications."<p>

"Such as?" the older man asked, mentally preparing himself for the worst.

"As I told you before, the Hyūga girl is two months premature. The low birth weight is nothing we haven't seen before, at least. But there are issues with keeping her warm enough to grow properly."

"I was sure that I cleared any medical equipment that might be necessary."

Bear shook his head. "You misunderstood me. She keeps herself warm just fine. That sphere that I found her in? It was a fusion of chakra, blood, flesh, and stone from the table I found her on. It was like she knew she needed the extra warmth, and fashioned herself an artificial womb. Aside from that, equipment left near her long enough keeps melting. I have to assume she's releasing the heat herself in order to prevent overheating. She's also become very attached to the older Uchiha boy."

The Sandaime considered that for a moment. "And the others?"

"The Aburame boy is still breathing poison that even he isn't immune to. Worse, it eventually corrodes any type of breathing apparatus we try to put on him. His family can't have any contact with him because they're especially susceptible to the toxins. The Akimichi boy has some skin discoloration on his arms, and the Nara boy has suddenly sprouted a full head of hair that's longer than he is. The Haruno twins have been a bit-"

"I understood that there was only one Haruno child," the Hokage interrupted. "A girl."

Bear shrugged. "There's two of them now. But that's the weird thing: half of the time, there is only one. No one can explain where the other one goes, but she always comes back. Not that we can really tell them apart at this point, so maybe they're both taking turns at vanishing."

"Then what of Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and Kiba?"

"Nothing really noteworthy to report there. They're having the same unusual chakra flares as the others, but that seems pretty standard so far. The bigger issue is that we're running low on guardians. We only have five: one each from the Uchiha, Inuzuka, Hyūga, Yamanaka, and Nara. That's not counting the Uchiha boy."

"We may have to count him. Young Kō is eager but clumsy at the best of times. If his charge is attached to someone else, anyway, perhaps we can convince him to watch over another child."

"I doubt it. More likely he'll try to smother the Uchiha kid in hopes that the girl will forget him."

Both men winced at the very idea of a conflict between Kō and Itachi: they really could not afford a dead Hyūga right now.

"I wish I knew what Kushina had been thinking when she did this," the Hokage sighed. "I'm still not even sure how she pulled it off. There's no record of her having even met half of these children."

"There wouldn't be," Bear pointed out. "Most people wouldn't want anyone to know that a jinchūriki was anywhere near their kids, and the rest probably weren't fond of her as a person. Even if she was friends with some parents, why would they bother to report a friend visiting them? I doubt any of them would have agreed to have a seal of this nature placed on their kids. Maybe she did it without their knowledge."

"But why? Was there no other way to defeat the Nine-Tails at all?"

"There's at least two ways to do nearly everything. But I knew the woman. If she chose this method, the alternative had to be far worse, for someone. Just don't ask me who."

* * *

><p>Yamanaka Inoichi stood watch over two or three children in the nursery. The number varied, but that was beyond his control. So much was beyond his control now.<p>

For the hundredth time, he gently placed his hand on his sleeping daughter's chest. She squirmed a little at first, but then relaxed, already growing used to his touch and presence.

"Can you hear me, Ino?" he murmured, as much aloud as he did within her mind. "Can you give me any sign at all that it's you?"

"Let her rest, mindwalker," growled a voice behind him. "I have no use for her just now."

Inoichi spun around, his mouth agape in horror as he took in the bright orange chakra shroud enveloping Haruno Sakura's crib. "What have you done to that poor girl?" he demanded.

"Far less than I've done to your own child, I must say," the shroud chuckled, slowly taking on the shape of a grinning fox's head. "This one appears to have far more raw power at her disposal. But don't worry: I'll continue to use your daughter as a mouthpiece, just so you don't feel left out. And don't forget, mindwalker: we have a deal. No one learns of this, or the next time you see your child, she'll be slitting your throat."

Just then, the door to the nursery opened, and a nurse stuck her head in. "Yamanaka-san? I thought I heard voices."

Inoichi stared at her, and then back at Sakura's crib. The chakra shroud was gone, and the sleeping infant gave no sign of anything being unusual. "Sorry about that. Just me, talking to myself. I have a lot on my mind."

She nodded sympathetically and slipped out, shutting the door behind her.

Inoichi waited before looking back at Sakura's crib. Now there were two girls, and one opened a slitted, blood-red eye and winked at him, before vanishing in a tiny puff of smoke.

* * *

><p>That night, Naruto and Sasuke slept side by side in identical cribs. There had been room enough in the nursery, but Mikoto had put her foot down. She didn't want any of her boys spending the night under a nurse's care unless they were clearly unwell. To imply that they were was to question Mikoto's ability as a mother, and not even the Hokage was willing to do that. So instead, the boys slept in the cramped room where Mikoto had been sitting for most of the day.<p>

It had been a long day in every sense of the word, but Mikoto did not sleep. She could be tired later, she'd decided.

Itachi had been totally silent since returning from the nursery with Sasuke. Mikoto was sure he'd seen something that gave him plenty to think about. He was a bright child, and she was sure that when he was ready, he'd share what was on his mind.

Sure enough, well after midnight, Itachi raised his head and looked into his mother's eyes.

"What is it, Itachi?" she asked him.

"Those babies. They're all like Sasuke, but... they all looked so alone, even the few that did have guardians with them."

"What they have is not a typical burden, my son. I suppose they have every right to look that way."

"Some of them are going to die, aren't they?"

Mikoto looked away. "I honestly don't know, Itachi. It's possible, maybe even likely for some of them."

He hesitated before adding, "One of them reached for me. She was so small..."

"What was her name?"

"Hinata. I heard the nurses talking. They're not sure what to do for her."

Mikoto could already see that Itachi was attached to the girl. She could also see that he was a sensitive boy, and that the girl's death, if she died, might destroy him. But she also knew that it was probably the best way for him to learn. "Why don't you go see if she wants some company?"

He quickly got to his feet, but Mikoto placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Be sure, Itachi. She's already chosen you. If you choose her as well, she becomes your responsibility, no matter what any man or law says. You have to be ready to defend her, not as if she were Sasuke, but as if she were your own baby. Keep that in mind."

Itachi nodded and left. Ten minutes later, he wheeled in Hinata's crib, sat down beside his mother, and watched his baby sleep.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was vaguely aware of the situation in Konoha, and would have liked nothing more than to be there when his godson was born. There was a problem, however, and as usual, the name of the problem was Orochimaru. At the time, the problem had grown from one to about ten, and its new name was Akatsuki. Jiraiya was gathering all the info he could on them now, before they became a huge problem in the future. He felt that knowledge of their activities was the most important thing. After all, no matter what happened with the Nine-Tails and Konoha, Akatsuki would become involved eventually. If they were armed with Orochimaru's knowledge when they did, there was no telling how much more damage they could cause.<p>

He ignored all of the requests that the Sandaime Hokage sent for him to return, even when they became orders. Jiraiya told himself each and every day that what he was doing was more important, for both Konoha and the entire shinobi world.

But when he woke up one night to find the imposing form of Monkey King Enma standing in the doorway of his hotel room, he knew his information gathering days had come to an abrupt end.

Enma said nothing of the situation in Konoha, or how desperately Jiraiya was needed there. He said only what needed to be said.

"You can walk in like a man, or I can drag you broken and bloody, but you will be in Konoha by morning."

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 2: Sacrifice<strong>

Jiraiya spends some time with the cursed children, while Itachi learns the price of being a parent from Shino's mother.

* * *

><p><strong>Endnotes:<strong>

I didn't see the filler episodes that Kō was in, so I may be off about his age. But even if I had, they are filler, so I'm not sure how credible they are as reference points to begin with. I'm assuming he's somewhat older than Itachi. And even that may be a stretch, Itachi has one of those aged faces. I think it's the extra lines.


	3. Sacrifice

**Senjutsu for the Soul**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman1023-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 2: Sacrifice**

* * *

><p>Just the day before, Hyūga Kō had known his exact place in the world. He had been a member of the Hyūga clan, servant to Lord Hiashi and his wife. It was not quite a desireable life: Lord Hiashi was constantly under a great deal of pressure as clan head, and often he took his frustration out on those close to him, especially servants. But the Lady Hyūga had been a soft-spoken, kind soul, and waiting on her had truly been one of the more pleasant tasks in Kō's life. She had treated him like a son, and not a mere servant. The difference between she had her husband had been like night and day: Hiashi ordered Kō to guard their child, while she had merely requested.<p>

Either way, Kō had been happy to give the Lady Hinata with the best protection he could possibly provide.

At first.

But then the eerie moonlight had burst into their shelter, bathing the Lady Hyūga in crimson light, and Kō had watched in disbelief and horror as she was destroyed from within, by the once innocent child inside her. He told himself that the Lady Hinata could not possibly have wanted to be born in that way, that the demon had taken her over. But it hardly made the loss any easier to bear.

There had not even been time to mourn. Lord Hiashi had grabbed Kō, ordered him to protect the child, and then left the shelter in a hurry, taking the others with him. Kō had not missed the disgust and fury in their eyes, but he had stayed, mourning his loss in silence. If not for the bear-masked ANBU, he might very well still be there with the Lady Hinata, waiting for new orders.

But things had not improved at all after leaving the shelter. The Sandaime Hokage himself informed Kō that there were eight other children just like the Lady Hinata, tainted by the demon's power. He had not mentioned any of their mothers meeting similar fates, and Kō had not dared to ask. He had merely watched over her and the other babies from a distance, wondering if Lord Hiashi would expect him to continue protecting her. But Kō did not dare to abandon his last orders, for fear of what awaited him if he did. He was allowed and even encouraged to stay near the Lady Hinata: the Hokage provided temporary housing for all of the guardians, and assured them that a more permanent solution was in the works. Kō did his best to avoid the others, though he could not quite explain why. As limited as his knowledge of demons was, perhaps he should have made a better effort to stay informed.

He refused to lower his guard, though. Whatever the Lady Hinata's intentions, she had still caused her own mother's death. Really, if she hadn't intended it, that made her even more dangerous. No matter how Kō felt about her, it was his duty to watch over her. Fortunately, with his eyes, he didn't have to be anywhere near her to do that.

* * *

><p>"You want me to what?" Jiraiya shouted, hardly able to believe what he'd just heard.<p>

The Sandaime Hokage closed his eyes and sighed. "I take it I don't really need to repeat myself."

"They'll never go for it, so there's no point in me even asking!"

"But you will ask," the Hokage insisted, glaring across his desk at his former student. "You'll ask because you loved Minato like a son, and because Naruto is your godson. You'll ask, Jiraiya, or you will never be welcome in my village again while I draw breath."

Jiraiya stared at his old teacher for a long moment. "I never said I wouldn't do it," he snapped at last. "I just said there was no point."

"I think you greatly underestimate the toads. They've been loyal to Konoha longer than I've been alive."

"So you should realize exactly how what you're asking could jeopardize all that!"

"Why do you think I'm asking you to approach them, Jiraiya, rather than anyone else? Would you really rather trust a village that was nearly destroyed by the Nine-Tails with children that possess its power? I'm not willing to take that risk with Minato's only son, not with any of them. Not after all that they do for us merely by existing. Even if this is the last favor the toads ever agree to do for Konoha, it would be well worth it."

"You really think they'll agree to such an outrageous request?" Jiraiya murmured, shaking his head.

"I think they'll at least meet us halfway. Minato was well-loved by all of his friends, and that includes the toads. I can't imagine that they would refuse to help protect the only surviving member of his family."

"But that's not all you're asking," Jiraiya reminded him. "If it was just Naruto, I'm sure they'd agree."

"But it isn't just Naruto," the Sandaime sighed. "Kushina saw to that. She isn't here to tell us why or how she did this. All we can do is care for her child and the others in her place. That means raising them in safety. But if you still have doubts, Jiraiya, go and see the children. You'll see that I'm right in this."

* * *

><p>Itachi had decided that he didn't care for Hyūga Kō only seconds after meeting him. He especially didn't care for the way that Kō tended to glare at Hinata. People who were so open with their hatred were either confident in their own power or simple fools, and Itachi had seen nothing that indicated that Kō was strong. It was, however, a small comfort that Kō showed little interest in getting anywhere near Hinata, although he did insist on checking on her at least every hour. Had it been up to Itachi, he would have kept Kō far away from the nursery, but his mother insisted that they do nothing to agitate the Hyūga (though they both seemed to agree that it was highly unlikely the Hyūga cared at all what happened to Hinata).<p>

Thankfully, Hinata seemed unaware of Kō's presence. Truthfully, she only seemed aware of Itachi's presence, and ignored nearly everyone else. After giving her a thorough looking-over, Mikoto had suggested that what Hinata needed, more than anything else, was constant physical contact. This meant that Itachi had to focus all his attention on Hinata, though his mother assured him that she could look after both Sasuke and Naruto. Inuzuka Hana was eager to help out, but of course she had Kiba to look after as well, so Hana mostly got advice from Shikamaru's mother, figuring that Itachi's mother had enough to worry about.

Thankfully, the remaining guardians were more helpful. Nara Yoshino was a stern and imposing woman, but at the same time, she had a softer side that reminded Itachi so much of his own mother that it was almost eerie. She seemed to be taking care of both her own son Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chōji with his parents' blessing. Yamanaka Inoichi was the most stressed of the guardians, but he was surprisingly patient with Itachi and tolerated his questions, possibly because he sympathized with the reality of having to care for more than one of the children. He was looking after his daughter Ino, and a set of unrelated twins, one of which was named Haruno Sakura.

Yoshino was the one who finally told Itachi the mist-breathing boy's name.

"Aburame Shino," she told him, a hint of worry in her tone. "Poor thing. I know his parents. They must be devastated."

Itachi tried to imagine a devastated Aburame, but couldn't really manage it. He'd never seen one be anything other than... just there, really. "Is no one watching over him?"

Yoshino shrugged helplessly. "It's not that we don't want to. But that's pure poison that he breathes out. Even if there was a way to stop it from coming out, that would only leave one place for it to go."

Itachi understood what she meant, but wondered how Shino might feel. Would he prefer to live this way, forcing everyone who might care for him to stay at arm's length? Or would he prefer to choke on his own toxins and end his suffering now? Just the day before, Itachi thought he would have known the answer, and that it would have been obvious. But now that his mother had taken on the enormous task of caring for two of these children, and Itachi one himself, he could not be so certain. All he knew was that Shino's life, no matter how short or long, would be pain, first and foremost.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya spent the following morning examining the seal arrays that Kushina had placed on the nine children. He only needed to look at two babies to confirm the Hokage's suspicions. The children in question were Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. All things considered, Jiraiya would have preferred to examine two boys instead. But Yamanaka Inoichi had volunteered the girls personally, though he had failed to provide a reason. The very idea that he had made Jiraiya want to check the stability of their seals even more, though the surprise he found was not even close to what he was expecting.<p>

Ino's seal array appeared to be the simplest version Kushina had used. This was bad, because Jiraiya didn't even recognize half of the symbols used in it. Some of them had certainly originated in the Land of Whirlpools, but beyond that he didn't even dare hazard a guess. All he could say for certain was that there didn't appear to be any immediate danger of the Nine-Tails' chakra escaping. He could have easily been wrong about that, but Jiraiya assumed that if Kushina had given her life to activate these seals and put one on her only son, they were going to work.

Sakura's seal array was even more complex, though after examining it, Ino's made a lot more sense. Kushina had clearly designated Sakura as an anchor, and Ino as an outlet. Basically, Sakura's seal array was designed chiefly to allow her to safely store and absorb the Nine-Tails' chakra. Ino's, on the other hand, was designed more with releasing the chakra safely in mind. In either case the demonic chakra would simply replenish itself regularly, but where Sakura's body could simply process any excess chakra with no ill effect, Ino's would more or less reach the point where she simply had to release the chakra. In fact, given that the children should have had no idea how to control chakra, it was incredibly odd that no strange incidents involving Ino had been reported. It was only when Inoichi explained that she and Sakura had been together almost constantly since the Nine-Tails' attack that Kushina's purpose dawned on Jiraiya.

The seals were meant to work together. Beyond that, the children were meant to work together. Out of the nine, only three were anchors: Sakura, Kiba, and Naruto. The other six were outlets. Nearly all of the children that had so far displayed strange or dangerous behavior were outlets. As such, they could not safely contain the demonic chakra at present, nor were they supposed to. That was why the anchors were so necessary: not only could they handle their own demonic chakra, they were already automatically absorbing excess demonic chakra from the outlets. They only needed to be in close proximity to accomplish this, and their seal arrays apparently did the rest. Clearly, each anchor was meant to process the excess chakra of two outlets at once, which meant that the children would always need to be grouped into trios, with only one anchor in each group. This had even begun to work itself out already: Naruto was being kept with Sasuke and Hinata, and because Sakura had no surviving family, Inoichi had kept her with Ino. Likewise, Inuzuka Hana had gravitated to Nara Yoshino, which kept Kiba in close proximity to Shikamaru and Chōji, who were both in Yoshino's care.

Still, the realization was only a small comfort to Jiraiya. Certainly it was too dangerous to keep all nine children in one place, and three groups of three would be easier to defend. But even if he could convince the toads to take in Naruto's group, that still left six other children without sanctuary. However, just as the Hokage had realized there was a surefire way to protect Naruto, Jiraiya realized there was a way to protect all of the children. It wouldn't be easy, but it was certainly possible, and in such desperate times, possible was all they needed.

* * *

><p>Mikoto had just put Sasuke down for an afternoon nap, and was in the process of feeding Naruto. She understood that everyone was rather busy, and that she was probably not all that high on anyone's priority list. She had all but told the Hokage himself, and the uneasy nurses, that she needed no help raising children. All the same, she would have greatly appreciated knowing that Jiraiya was back in Konoha, especially if he was going to time his visit to her while she was in the middle of breastfeeding.<p>

But to her great surprise, the moment Jiraiya walked into the room, he only had eyes for the child in her arms.

"Is that...?" he started to ask, then trailed off uncertainly.

"Naruto," she confirmed.

"My godson," Jiraiya murmured softly, looking both wounded and slightly ill. "If I had thought when Minato asked me, that they would both be gone one day, and so soon..."

"It couldn't be helped," Mikoto said calmly, and she firmly believed that. "If Minato and Kushina hadn't died, the rest of us would have. All we can do is honor their sacrifice, by making sure that Naruto has everything he needs to grow into a happy, healthy boy."

"There's no way he's not happy right now," Jiraiya joked weakly, though even he couldn't manage a smile just then.

Mikoto rolled her eyes. "I should hope so. He drinks the stuff like it's going out of style. Don't get me wrong, it's more relief for me, but if I did have to feed a third child, they'd have to settle for store-bought."

"Guess that means little Hinata is out of luck."

"Not exactly," Mikoto replied. "Itachi felt rather strongly about that. He didn't want Sasuke and Naruto to have to share milk with another child, and he was determined to get milk for Hinata on his own. I never asked how he would go about it, so I guess I'll just have to hope he doesn't mug a milkman. Though, if he could do it and not get caught, I suppose that would be fine."

"...I could check on him while I'm here," Jiraiya offered. "I saw him earlier, and he was very interested in watching me examine the seals."

"And you let him?" Mikoto asked in surprise.

"No. But as he's going to be caring for Hinata, there are things that all of you shoud know, soon."

"The seals are secure, aren't they?"

"Yes. It has more to do with how the children are grouped. Well, how they'll need to be grouped. It shouldn't make much difference for now, since they're just down the hall from each other."

"You're going to separate them," Mikoto guessed with a frown.

"I'm going to suggest it, but even if I didn't, I imagine it would still be done," Jiraiya replied. "In any case, I have no intention of seeing you separated from any of your children, Naruto and Hinata included."

That surprised her. "You won't take him?"

"From an experienced mother to an experienced bachelor? I doubt any kid deserves that. I could protect him better, but as far as raising him, I don't think there's any question that you're the most qualified parent. And if I screwed up Minato's kid, I have no doubt that Kushina would claw her way out of the grave to kill me."

"You can hold him, you know," Mikoto offered. "Once we're finished here, anyway."

Jiraiya shook his head. "I won't have earned that right until I've done what I can to protect him. Hopefully, the next time you see me, that will be exactly the case."

"You aren't going to do something foolish and dangerous, are you? I'd prefer Naruto didn't lose any other relatives so soon."

"It shouldn't be dangerous, at least," Jiraiya admitted. "They won't kill me, anyway. They like me too much. I hope."

* * *

><p>Hinata seemed to like going for walks. This was good, because there was little else Itachi could do with her. They could not leave the shelter for security reasons, and Itachi wouldn't have dared even if it had been allowed. He already knew how dangerous Sasuke could be, and he also knew that uninformed people were even more dangerous. Already he had heard some of the nurses discussing rumors of a public protest against keeping the children in the village. Some of their concern was warranted, but most of it was not. Itachi had seen for himself that no one who approached the children with good intentions was harmed by them. Shino was the only exception there, but he clearly had no control over his poison, and it seemed to be just as harmful to him.<p>

At any rate, Itachi got used to walking as far as he could with Hinata very quickly. She was a quiet baby, which Itachi attributed to her already low physical strength. He made certain to pay extra attention to her, fearing that she might even lack the strength to cry out when she needed something. It was also becoming very clear to Itachi that he would not be able to help out with Sasuke, at least not as much as he'd hoped. While Hinata herself did not demand his attention, her situation did, and Itachi did not like the idea of leaving her in anyone else's care. She responded to no one else, and he firmly believed that there was a good reason for this: she had chosen him, and him alone.

As for why, Itachi could not even begin to hazard a guess: Sasuke was used to him now, but it had taken some time before he would allow Itachi to hold him. Itachi had even begun to wonder if he were simply bad with babies, but based on Hinata's near-instant acceptance of him, he now he assumed that Sasuke had been especially moody, or perhaps just slow to trust. It didn't make Itachi love his brother any less, but it did make him aware that even that young, children had their own personalities and preferences. Aside from her obvious problems, or possibly because of them, Itachi decided that Hinata was easier to love, if that was indeed what he felt for her. He could easily imagine himself as an old man, walking side by side with her after she had blossomed into a mature beauty. Such thoughts were nice, but not altogether realistic: Itachi was going to be a ninja, and old age was anything but guaranteed for them. For one to be that old, he would have to be incredibly powerful, or extremely intelligent.

As Itachi returned to the nursery and spotted Jiraiya standing against the wall, he wondered which applied to the older man. Certainly he was strong, but Itachi believed he was very clever as well, even if his mannerisms didn't always indicate it. If the stories were true, Jiraiya had a certain talent for annoying his former teammates, who were two of the strongest ninja alive. It stood to reason that if they hadn't killed him yet, he had to be doing something right.

Jiraiya did not look up as Itachi entered, but Itachi could tell his presence had been sensed. It was something in the way that Jiraiya seemed to relax, as if he had been an instant away from attacking the unexpected visitor. He had not been that tense before, and Itachi soon found the reason why.

Shino's crib was empty, but the boy hadn't gone far: he was wrapped in a thick blanket, mostly hidden from view as an equally bundled woman wearing goggles carefully rocked him in her arms. Itachi knew at once that she was Shino's mother, but could not explain how he knew. There was no real physical resemblance from the little he could see, but Itachi couldn't imagine why anyone other than one of Shino's parents would risk exposure to him.

"Why is she doing that, Jiraiya-sama?" Itachi asked before he could stop himself.

"I imagine she wants to hold her baby, if only once," Jiraiya murmured.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to live for his sake?"

"Never being able to touch your child? Some people wouldn't call that living at all." Sighing, Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm not saying I think this a good alternative, but I understand her reasoning."

Itachi frowned. "But she'll die. He'll only have his father left."

"True. I suspect he'll be the one to explain it to Shino, unless she asks me to. I am a witness and all. Come to think of it, so are you. Shino would probably believe you before me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you have no reason to lie to him. You think a mother should live for her son, and he'll sense that when you tell him what happened."

"His life will be hard enough. He doesn't need to know that he's responsible for his mother's death."

"Him? I've been here the whole time, and the kid never told her to pick him up. She knew exactly what it would mean to do so, and trust me, no one forced her into this. The way I see it, the only one responsible for her death is her. All that matters is whether or not the reason for it means anything to Shino, when he learns his mother died for him."

"I would never expect my mother to do that for me," Itachi insisted.

Jiraiya smirked. "Good thing she wouldn't ask you, then. But tell me something: you think it's crazy for a parent to die for their child, if there's another option. Does that also mean that if Hinata's clan marched in here right now and threatened to kill you if you didn't hand her over to them, you'd just let her go? Knowing what they do to their kids? You wouldn't lay down your life to protect her?"

"That's different," Itachi murmured, holding Hinata closer to his chest.

"Except for the part where it isn't. Would you die for her, if it meant that she could live happy and free? Do you care enough about her to make that sacrifice?"

Itachi could not answer. Returning Hinata to her clan had never even crossed his mind. Why would it? No parent would willingly sentence their child to such a fate.

"You're thinking now, at least," Jiraiya commented. "Makes me feel a little better about leaving her with you. But you'll need to grow up fast, if you're going to be a parent before you're a ninja. It won't get any eas-"

A muted cough interrupted them, and both turned to see Shino's mother standing a few feet away. She was swaying slightly on her feet, and Itachi had a hard time suppressing the urge to steady her, reminding himself that she was now practically covered in Shino's toxins. Perhaps the only real comfort was that if she did fall, the triple layer of winter coats she was wearing, combined with the scarves wrapped tightly around her neck and mouth, would cushion her fall.

"Thank you for allowing this visit, Jiraiya-sama," she murmured. She seemed to want to bow, but apparently decided not to risk bending that far and possibly falling over, and simply inclined her head to him.

Jiraiya nodded, but it was stiff, and his lips thinned into a hard line.

Shino's mother turned to leave, but hesitated as her gaze landed on Itachi and Hinata. "Treasure her," she said clearly. "Tell her with every touch how precious she is to you. And when he is old enough to wonder why, tell my Shino that I loved him too much to stay away."

"I will," Itachi promised.

She nodded. "Then I'll hold you to that, young man." Without warning, she reached up to readjust her scarves and goggles. Itachi caught a glimpse of her face, which was, in his young mind, absolutely flawless. It was her almond-shaped, pale blue eyes that held his gaze, however. Especially when, almost so quickly that Itachi missed it, three white tomoe appeared in the left eye, but were gone when she blinked.

Itachi looked to Jiraiya as the woman left, but he was still staring distractedly at one of the cribs. He either hadn't seen, or had and was pretending he hadn't. Itachi wasn't sure what to make of that, especially when Jiraiya suddenly looked up and said, "I'm leaving the village tonight. I should be back soon. You and your mother should be ready to move the children at a moment's notice. Make sure she knows."

Itachi nodded, but frowned as Jiraiya quickly left the room. Even for a ninja village, he suddenly felt that there were far too many secrets flying around. "Ready for your nap yet, Hinata?" he asked the bundle in his arms.

Hinata blinked slowly at him once, then did so again, only her eyes did not quite manage to open again the second time.

"Guess so," Itachi murmured, gently stroking her cheek with a finger. "We'd better put you back with your brothers."

It took a moment for Itachi to realize what he'd said, and longer to realize why it didn't bother him in the least.

* * *

><p>Something shifted in the darkness, and when it did, Inuzuka Hana's eyes snapped open. The combination of being unable to sleep in her own bed, as well as the uncomfortable thought of sleeping while her baby brother was in another room entirely, had left her in what she thought must be a state of hypersensitivity. It was entirely possible that her mind was playing tricks on her, but Hana couldn't remember a time recently when her senses had been wrong.<p>

After a few moments, she saw it: something small, dark, and furry moving swiftly across the dormitory floor, toward the bed that Nara Yoshino was sleeping in. Hana thought about waking the woman, then instantly decided against it and made a wild dive. Her target froze as it sensed her approach and made a mad scramble to escape, and perhaps if Hana had been any other child, she might have missed. But the pronounced claws that were her birthright found purchase, sinking into the small creature's bushy tail and pinning it to the floor.

Hana landed as lightly as she ever had, but was not really surprised when Yoshino sat up in bed at once. "Sorry I woke you, Nara-san," Hana apologized. "I thought I saw a rat."

Yoshino sighed, but did not seem upset. "And what was it, Hana-chan?"

"Oh, it's... hair?" Hana answered, frowning as she stared at her prey: nothing more than a clump of thick, black hair.

"And it was moving," Yoshino added, looking for all the world to be perfectly serious.

"Well... I thought it was," Hana admitted, blushing as Yoshino continued to stare at her. "Sorry. I guess I just imagined it."

"I doubt that you did. Bring it here," Yoshino ordered in a no-nonsense tone, swinging her legs out of the bed.

Hana obediently brought the hair to Yoshino and deposited it into her waiting hand, wondering if the woman was just playing a really elaborate joke on her.

"It smells like human hair, yes?" Yoshino asked.

Hana blinked and sniffed at the clump of hair. "Um, yes."

"Maybe a little like mine?"

Hana stared at her uncertainly, then leaned in to sniff at Yoshino's hair. "I guess so. Nara-san, why do you-?"

"Watch, I'll show you something neat." Yoshino closed her fingers around the hair for a moment, then opened her hand.

Nothing happened.

Hana had opened her mouth to say as much when the clump of hair suddenly came to life, forming a body, head, four legs, and a bushy tail. In seconds, the clump of hair had become a perfect, tiny replica of a fox. It circled Yoshino's hand a few times, apparently sniffing, then sat down and let out a squeak, staring at her expectantly.

"What is that?" Hana demanded.

"My lazy son's way of saying he's hungry," Yoshino replied, again, sounding perfectly serious as she pulled on a loose robe.

"Wait, what?"

"My son, Shikamaru. The baby boy with hair down to his feet. He's hungry. He wouldn't bother to send a message if he needed changing. They're odd that way, babies. Want to come?"

Hana was now staring at the tiny fox, which Yoshino had dropped on the bed. It was staring back at Hana with obvious suspicion, clearly recalling their earlier encounter. As Yoshino moved away from the bed, the fox dove into the pocket of her robe, emerging enough to glare at Hana.

"Doesn't any of this seem strange to you, Nara-san?" Hana asked as Yoshino approached the door.

Yoshino shrugged. "Sure. But my son needs me. What else is there?"

Hana blinked as Yoshino left the room, then sighed and got up to follow her. Maybe Kiba hadn't called her, but if Shikamaru was awake and sending out tiny hair foxes, it was entirely possible that he'd managed to wake up the other babies. And even if he hadn't, if Kiba was going to start sending out hairballs for messengers, Hana wanted to be the first to know about it. The way she saw it, it was never too early to break her baby brother of potential bad habits, and they didn't come much worse, in her opinion, than putting hairballs, chakra-imbued or otherwise, in your sister's bed.

* * *

><p>"So it's true?" Shizune asked.<p>

The little yellow toad in her hand nodded solemnly. "I saw his name vanish from the scroll myself, and Jiraiya has confirmed it. The Yondaime Hokage is dead."

"That's terrible," she whispered, biting her lip. "He was such a nice man. And so young, still." Shizune could still recall when he had visited them in person to request that they return to the village. Tsunade had refused, and Shizune had known she would, but the Yondaime had promised they would always be welcome so long as he was Hokage.

"I have orders not to leave until Tsunade receives the news," the toad explained.

"I heard every word," Tsunade said as she walked into the hotel room. "You can go back."

The toad nodded and vanished in a small puff of smoke.

"Tsunade-sama, what should we do?" Shizune asked.

"About what?" Tsunade replied, giving her a blank look.

"Well, it was the Nine-Tails. I'm sure plenty of people are hurt and possibly dying. Couldn't we just-?"

"Could we? Yes. Will we? No. Nothing has really changed in that village. I'm sure the reason I left still stands."

"But this would be the perfect chance to show them that you were right! That a medic-nin on every team could really save lives!"

"Forget it, Shizune. Knowing them, they'd just claim the lack of firepower lead to more deaths. As if anyone in their right mind could take on that monster alone and win with anything less than an army behind them."

Shizune stared at the woman who had been her idol for as long as she could remember, and for the first time, was completely disgusted by what she saw. "Well... maybe you can ignore the situation, but I refuse to. I'm going back to the village."

"Don't be surprised if they don't thank you. In fact, I suspect they'll find a way to blame you for not having been there, instead."

"The only thing they could possibly blame me for is not bringing a certain genius medic-nin with me, and that's hardly my fault."

Tsunade shook her head. "Fine. Go. But when you come crawling back, be prepared to eat some serious humble pie."

"Maybe you should prepare yourself for the possibility that I might not came back," Shizune snapped. "After all, with you here, it almost guarantees I'll be the number one medic-nin in the village. I'm sure there will be plenty of work to keep me busy."

A smirk was Tsunade's only reply as Shizune threw some belongings into a bag and stomped past her, refusing to meet her eyes. "You'll be back!" Tsunade shouted after her. "And you'll see I was right!"

But Tsunade had no idea how wrong she was. She would never see her attendant alive again.

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 3: Safe Havens<strong>

Jiraiya makes a huge request of the toads. Shizune returns to Konoha. Inoichi enters his daughter's mind and is greeted by an unpleasant surprise.


	4. Safe Havens

**Senjutsu for the Soul**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com )**

**Chapter 3: Safe Havens**

* * *

><p>It had been years since Jiraiya had been part of a full meeting of the ruling Mount Myōboku toads, and it should have felt like coming home again. Instead, it felt more like he was on trial. He hated that feeling, but there was nothing for it: he would be representing Konoha's interests in this meeting, and more importantly, he would be speaking not not only for the Hokage, but for Naruto.<p>

Most of the toads present had known Jiraiya since he was a boy. They could sense at once that he was not his usual self, but more than likely attributed his unease to the death of the Yondaime Hokage, one of their most beloved summoners, and Jiraiya's favorite student.

Once everyone was settled in the meeting cave (and someone had poked the Great Toad Sage awake), the meeting began. Jiraiya was seated on the floor before the Great Toad Sage, who was perhaps the largest and oldest toad still living on the mountain. Seated on low platforms on either side of the giant toad's feet were Fukasaku and Shima, the elderly toad sages that were like parents to Jiraiya. The remaining elders lined the walls, while the younger generation of toads, consisting largely of the Chief Toad Gamabunta and his children, sat behind Jiraiya.

"You called for this meeting, Jiraiya-chan," Fukasaku began. "I assume it has to do with the current situation in Konoha?"

Jiraiya nodded. "It does, Pa. As I'm sure you all know, the Nine-Tails attacked the village recently. In order to stop it, Minato gave his life, and his wife Kushina gave hers to seal the demon."

"Such a tragedy," Shima murmured, wiping away a tear.

"It gets worse," Jiraiya assured her. "Through some unknown sealing process, Kushina created nine jinchūriki."

The entire assembly was stunned into silence.

"Nine?" Fukasaku asked after a moment. "Why so many when one should have been enough?"

"I don't have the answer to that. But one of the nine was Minato's only son, born just minutes before the sealing."

"You'll bring him here," Shima said at once. There was no hesitation, and by her tone, no room for argument.

Fukasaku, at least, turned to look at the Great Toad Sage, who merely nodded his consent. "It would be nice to meet the boy," Fukasaku agreed. "And he should know his father's friends."

Jiraiya sighed in relief. "I'm glad you feel that way. So it won't surprise you when I suggest that the boy be raised here? There are those in the village that would associate him with the Nine-Tails, and no son of Minato deserves that."

"He is welcome," the Great Toad Sage croaked. "The boy will grow strong here. But he will not grow alone."

"The boy has been entrusted to Uchiha Mikoto, a friend of Kushina's. She has two young sons of her own, and has also adopted a baby girl. I know it is a great deal to ask, but-"

"These children are the other jinchūriki you spoke of?" Shima interrupted.

"Yes," Jiraiya admitted. "Two of them, anyway. And because of the type of seals that Kushina used, it is mandatory that the children remain in groups of three."

"That is a tall order," Fukasaku added, frowning. "Not impossible, but difficult. I don't think we've ever had an arrangement like this."

"You never had a summoner like Minato, either," Jiraiya pointed out. "The safety of his son is on the line. I can think of no better place to protect him."

"Minato's boy isn't the issue. Of course we'll take him in, and even the family caring for him. But three jinchūriki in one place is a major security risk for anyone involved. What would you even do with the other six?"

"I'm hoping others might follow your example, assuming you agree to this."

"You mean Katsuyu and Enma?" Gamabunta grunted. "That could actually work out for the best."

"I suppose we don't really have a choice," Fukasaku sighed. "We can't abandon Minato's son or two helpless children, no matter what power they hold. It would be more dangerous to let them fend for themselves. Jiraiya-chan, I trust you'll make the necessary arrangements with Sarutobi? We'll need them all to sign the contract as soon as possible. And if the Uchiha have any active contracts, that will need to be addressed as well."

Jiraiya nodded, feeling a huge weight lift from his shoulders. "Of course, Pa. I'll set everything up and contact you when we're ready."

* * *

><p>It was absolutely terrifying, how much the Nine-Tails knew about them. Inoichi had interrogated enemy ninja that had posed as double agents in Konoha for years, and all of them knew less about the village and its inhabitants.<p>

But in just minutes, the Nine-Tails had taken a firm hold in nearly every child touched by its power, with stunning results. And really, Inoichi was more concerned about the children that had yet to display their abilities. Those he felt sure the Nine-Tails had big plans for, and that thought terrified him.

Of more immediate concern was Ino, and not just because of who she was to him. The Nine-Tails had displayed the alarming ability to take over Ino's body and mind at will, without warning. Thankfully, Ino's being a newborn meant that the demon was so far limited in what it could actually do with her. Her powers had not developed enough to make her a threat, yet. But they would one day, and Inoichi doubted there was anything he could do to stop it. He had considered having Ino's powers sealed away for good, but that would create two additional problems. First, the Hokage would demand to know why Inoichi found such an extreme measure necessary, and even assuming that Inoichi could explain it to his satisfaction without looking like so many other parents that turned against their jinchūriki children, the Nine-Tails would just find another way to hurt him. Second, sealing away Ino's power would leave her defenseless, and might actually erase what little resistance she did have against the demon. Inoichi felt sure that if the Nine-Tails was currently able to possess Ino without interruption, his daughter's personality would have already been completely erased. Ino still existed, which meant that there were limits to the demon's power, but that could change at any moment, and Inoichi was not willing to press his luck by waiting.

Jiraiya had said that the seals on the children would hold, but Inoichi knew the man, and more importantly, he knew when a man wasn't being entirely truthful. Inoichi would have bet money that Jiraiya only had a vague understanding of the seals, and doubted he would admit as much to anyone. Jiraiya was their foremost expert on sealing jutsu, after all: if he didn't understand them, the chances of anyone else in the entire Land of Fire being able to dropped dramatically.

Inoichi was willing to risks on a lot of things, but his daughter's life was not one of them, not anymore. He had promised his wife on her deathbed that he would protect their baby girl no matter what, and he had already failed in spectacular fashion at that. True, the situation had been well beyond his control, but it was time to start taking some back.

No one said a word when he took Ino out of the nursery, and asked Yoshino to keep an eye on Sakura (both of her, at the moment) for a while. It was a short walk to the mostly empty room set aside for the male guardians of the children. Inoichi had seen the Hyūga boy sulking in there from time to time, but rarely. As fate would have it, he wasn't there today, and Inoichi had been counting on that. No one was going to come looking for the boy, so it likely wouldn't even be necessary to barricade the door. Inoichi did it, anyway. He had no idea how long this might take.

He carefully laid Ino down on the nearest bed. She was sleeping deeply, but Inoichi doubted that would last long. He unwrapped the swaddling clothes, exposing her belly, and gently placed his hand there. As usual, she squirmed but did not wake up. "If you can hear me, Ino," he murmured, "I'm coming in."

To his surprise, the seal appeared on her belly at once, without either one of them molding any chakra. He knew it could easily be the Nine-Tails, inviting him to enter and try his luck against it. But as powerful as the demon was, the mind was a Yamanaka's playground, and if the fox wanted to kill him in Ino's mind, it wouldn't go so easily.

But the moment Inoichi cleared his mind and entered his daughter's seal, he realized he had been wrong about a great deal of things. It was not the Nine-Tails awaiting him in the field of sunflowers that composed Ino's mindscape, nor was it the Nine-Tails that stood to greet him, looking for all the world like a near-exact replica of his recently deceased wife. Even before she spoke, Inoichi knew her by her very presence: there was no other woman he had ever met who radiated such power and confidence with a simple movement.

"Inoichi," she said softly, offering a sad smile, "I'm so, so sorry."

"Kushina," he breathed, hardly able to believe it. "Uzumaki Kushina."

* * *

><p>Itachi had been under the impression that the sacrifice of Shino's mother had been largely for nothing. He soon realized that this was incorrect.<p>

The morning after her visit, the box that Shino had been kept in was removed, as he had stopped spewing toxins with every breath. Instead, Itachi watched the nurses install an invisible barrier around Shino's crib. With Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata being kept down the hall, there was just enough room without their cribs in the nursery to fit a chair inside the barrier. Now that the danger surrounding Shino had been brought under control, the guardians took turns holding him. They were required to wear safety suits in order to do this, but it still meant that Shino now got regular human contact where he had previously gotten none.

Itachi might have volunteered, but he could not quite get used to the sight of bugs crawling over Shino's skin, though he knew this was normal for the Aburame. The Hokage had personally come to Itachi and assured him that the bugs Shino's mother had passed to her son were quite necessary. Itachi had assumed as much himself, and knowing he would not be allowed to, asked if someone could pass his condolences along to Shino's father. To Itachi's surprise, the old man replied, "He thought you might say that. He thanks you, and asks me to remind you that a man should keep his oaths as he does his loved ones: close to his heart, and in his thoughts each day." Itachi could not be sure if the Hokage also knew that Shino's mother had possessed the Sharingan, but it wouldn't have surprised him.

Truthfully, Itachi would have kept his oath to Shino's mother even if she was in no way related, if only because he would want the same if Sasuke were placed in a similar situation. The idea of the Sharingan outside of the clan was less disturbing to Itachi and more curious than anything else. He did not know enough about the Aburame to be sure, but Itachi suspected that if Shino's mother's Sharingan had merely been an illusion, she would not have bothered to make it an unusual color and risk him not recognizing it. That suggested both that the Sharingan had been real, and that it had somehow naturally been blue and white.

Itachi had never before seen or heard of a Sharingan that was anything other than red and black. He also could not imagine that an Aburame possessing the Sharingan would be widely known or accepted among his own clan. It begged the question of how Shino's mother had hidden this, and for how long.

Naturally, the first person he went to was his mother. She had at least been near the same age as Shino's mother, so there was a strong possibility that they had grown up together, or at least known vaguely of each other.

She did not immediately discard Itachi's idea, but he could still hear the doubt in her voice. "I've seen the eyes of a couple of Aburame. If they were hiding anything, I'd think I'd have sensed something. Though, I can't say I ever saw Sanae's eyes. She was always very careful about that, and she had good reason, if she were hiding a Sharingan for as long as I've known her."

"How would she even have gotten one?" Itachi asked.

"It could have been an implant, but I doubt it. The Aburame aren't big on transplants from outside their clan. The bugs don't agree with it, I guess. So I'd say she probably came by her Sharingan naturally, and married into the Aburame without anyone noticing."

"But she didn't just marry into the clan. She had bugs, too."

His mother shrugged. "I'm not familiar with the ritual that attaches the bugs. I always understood it was something they did shortly after birth, but maybe they can do at any point in life. In any case, she showed you for a reason. What do you think it was?"

"I think she just wanted me to keep my promise."

"Which I hope you would have done even without seeing that. I didn't raise you to lie to desperate women, Itachi."

"Of course not. She just wasn't willing to risk me having any second thoughts. About the promise, anyway."

"We can't say definitively whether Sanae was family or not, Itachi, but I don't see how it matters much. You keep your word to her, and tell Shino what he needs to hear. I'll leave the when up to you, unless I think you're taking too long."

* * *

><p>"Explain yourself," Inoichi demanded at once.<p>

"I intend to," Kushina replied. "But I would have thought the reason for this appearance was obvious."

Inoichi had guessed that much: the only reason he could seriously imagine Kushina taking on his late wife's form was for Ino's sake. She had certainly never interacted with him in any way that might suggest any kind of attraction, so that thought had been considered briefly and dismissed just as quickly. "I didn't mean that. I meant why you sealed that monster into nine of our children."

"Because my child alone would have made just as good a sacrifice?" Kushina spat. "Sorry, but I don't agree. I never did."

"We all have our gifts, asked for or not," Inoichi reminded her. "Your clan was the only one with ties to Konoha that also possessed the longevity and the endurance to make a jinchūriki a feasible idea. But I know for a fact that you knew the same didn't apply to the Yamanaka. So you can choose to be offended that I would sacrifice your son before my daughter, but we both know damn well that Naruto came out of this better than Ino did or ever could. If I'm going to lose my daughter over this, you had better tell me what the hell you were thinking when you sealed Ino, too. You knew Naruto had the best chance. You knew the other kids didn't, and you sealed them, anyway. In my book, that makes you a bigger monster than the Nine-Tails itself."

"Really? And you're so sure that Naruto is the perfect jinchūriki simply because he's my son? Suppose you're wrong? What if Naruto is the first Uzumaki in ages to not possess the gifts of my clan? Would you really have risked the fate of the village on a single person being a perfect demon container, knowing that if the seal failed, everyone you know would perish?"

Inoichi glared at her. "Then it's just coincidence that Naruto is one of the only children that has yet to display any abnormal behavior, and that Ino has already become the plaything of the Nine-Tails? I don't buy that for a second, and neither do you."

Kushina sighed and shook her head. "You know what? For the sake of this discussion, I'm actually going to ignore the fact that I was brought to Konoha solely to become a jinchūriki, and that my son probably wouldn't have escaped that fate no matter what. I'm not even going to suggest that the village owed me for my unwilling service, even though certain people seem to feel entitled when it happens to them. The fact is that I had only two options, Inoichi: place all of my hopes on Naruto being the perfect jinchūriki, able to withstand both the enormity of the task itself and the hatred the village would heap upon him for enduring it, or ensure the village's safety by creating more than one jinchūriki."

"But why INO?" Inoichi roared.

"I didn't choose her specifically."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Naruto is the only child I personally selected to become a jinchūriki," Kushina explained. "I never specified which children would also become jinchūriki along with him. I certainly had my suspicions, but I only chose that it would be done, not which children it would be done to."

"That's awfully convenient."

Kushina arched an eyebrow. "I'm dead, Inoichi. I'm not afraid of you. Besides, anything you did to me in here would only cause Ino more suffering in the long run. You don't have to like it, but it is what it is. Now are you going to keep making accusations, or are you going to let me tell you what you need to know about the seal?"

Inoichi opened his mouth to argue, then decided against it. "Fine. How are you even here?"

"Each seal was drawn entirely in my blood."

"Impossible," Inoichi said at once. "Even for Ino's seal alone, the amount of blood needed was so much that-"

"Hello?" Kushina interrupted, waving at him. "I'm dead, remember? I know you can't tell now, but there should be a giant hole where my stomach is."

"And in that condition, you were able to pull this off?" he asked doubtfully. "That's a stretch, even for an Uzumaki."

"I had help."

"From?"

"I was sworn to secrecy."

He glared at her. "Talk."

Kushina shook her head. "This isn't the type of deal where you can pry into my head, or convince me to talk. I literally cannot tell you. If I did, this form would disintegrate before the words passed my lips, and Ino would be left on her own in here with the Nine-Tails. You don't want that."

"You say that like your presence in here has done her any good at all."

"You think what you've seen already is bad? You were right, the Yamanaka aren't known for their endurance or longevity. But Ino is a jinchūriki now, which means you have no idea what she's truly capable of. Even I'm not totally sure, and I've been in here studying her. So far you've only seen the Nine-Tails talking through her, but you'd be foolish to think that's all he could do with her at this point. My presence here means that there is at least something working against him. Trust me, I don't want him walking around in control of Ino's body any more than you do."'

"From what I've seen, the only reason he hasn't managed that yet is solely because Ino doesn't know how to walk. He takes over her mind, Kushina. Unless you know a way to stop that, your being here IS pointless."

"I'm sorry, Inoichi, but Ino is a Yamanaka. Her mind is powerful, so naturally, it's the first place that the Nine-Tails targeted. All I can tell you is that I'm doing my best. It may not be enough for you, but it's all you have right now. But I'm going to warn you now. No matter how you or anyone else feels, Ino and the other children surviving limits the fox's power. In your position, you'll have to watch them suffer, and maybe you'll eventually start to feel like it would be kinder to end their suffering. But as it stands, there's no safe way to do that without rendering the entire sealing process ineffective. In other words, if one child is killed, it would likely lead not only the to deaths of all the children, but the immediate release of the Nine-Tails back into our world."

"So you placed a largely ineffective seal on our children that falls apart if any of them dies?" Inoichi spat. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"I didn't say if they died," Kushina snapped. "I said if they were killed. The Nine-Tails is basically a mass of hatred, so it makes sense that murdering its container would increase the fox's power. To prevent that, I installed fail-safes into each seal. They'll protect the children, both defending them from attack and providing them with basic nourishment."

Inoichi was about to tell her that he'd seen or heard of no such fail-safes, but then realized with shock that he had.

Uchiha Fugaku being consumed in a fiery aura. The Hyūga girl practically cannibalizing her own mother to shape a makeshift womb. He had thought that these were merely calculated acts of violence. That the Nine-Tails had been lashing out to express its fury at being contained. That it had simply been the work of a demon.

And it had been. Only he'd been blaming the wrong demon.

Inoichi broke the connection then and there. An instant later, he collapsed to his knees and fell across the bed, just missing Ino but jostling her enough that she woke up and began to whimper. Without looking, Inoichi reached out and stroked her head.

"It's okay, baby," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Daddy's here."

Ino's whimpering trailed off, and soon Inoichi felt the unmistakable sensation of a toothless mouth gumming his finger. He wanted to laugh, but instead felt like crying.

He would have to tell the Hokage all that he had learned. But what had he learned, really? That Kushina and some unknown assistant had used her blood to create seals, and somehow got them onto the children without ever touching them? Even assuming the Hokage believed that, there were too many holes in the story, and Kushina either wasn't talking or couldn't tell them more. There was no denying that she had effectively killed about half of the children's parents with her damned "fail-safes", though. In Sasuke's case, it had been self-defense, and maybe it had been with some others. But Hinata's mother had only been trying to give birth to her baby. She deserved better, and in Inoichi's mind, she was the first innocent to die because of Kushina's madness. He only hoped she would be the last, but seriously doubted they would be so lucky.

* * *

><p>"Cats," Mikoto replied to Jiraiya's question.<p>

"How would they feel about you having an additional summon contract?"

"They'd be beyond pissed. They're possessive that way. But if this is the best way to protect Naruto, then I'll cancel it."

Jiraiya expected her to summon a cat then and there, and hesitantly reached out to take Naruto from her.

Instead, Mikoto placed Naruto back in his crib, and took Hinata from Itachi. "You know the jutsu, Itachi," she said, making a funny face at Hinata and drawing what sounded much like a giggle from the girl. "But make it a small one. We don't want to have to deal with a lot of whining. Do we, Hina-chan?" Anything else Mikoto said soon dissolved into baby talk and gibberish, peppered with Hinata's delighted squeals.

To Jiraiya's surprise, Itachi, an Academy student who had not even graduated yet, summoned a small, brown cat that yawned and sat up, blinking at them.

"Mrowwwr. I was taking a nap," the brown cat complained. "What do you want?"

"We need to cancel our contracts, Fumi," Itachi explained. "Sorry."

Fumi scowled. "What? Why? Haven't we been good companions?"

"The best. Unfortunately, we have an emergency situation that requires us to sign another contract, and we're well aware of your terms: no additional contracts."

"Nekomata-sama won't like this."

"I'm sure he won't. But they are his rules. Can you handle this for us, please?"

"Sure, get me in trouble. You know he hates getting bad news. Who should I tell him you're signing up with instead?"

"Toads," Jiraiya supplied.

Fumi made a face that suggested she was about to bring up a hairball. "Toads? As in... warts? Those kinds of toads?"

"Fumi, we are in a hurry," Itachi reminded her. "Please?"

"Fine. You should feel a tickle in your throats when it's done. And if you should change your mind-"

"We won't. And if Nekomata-sama should ever decide to relax his rules-"

"He won't." Fumi glared at Jiraiya before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya shook his head and looked at Itachi. "You're already summoning at your age?"

Mikoto shot him a blank look. "He's also raising a baby girl at his age, and I'm pretty sure that's more difficult. What's your point?"

"My point is he has a baby brother, so his being able to look after a child is not so surprising. But there's no way he learned summoning at the Academy. We've got plenty of graduates that don't know how to do it yet, so I'm curious."

"He wanted to learn, and I considered it a useful skill, so I taught him. Apparently I was right to do so, since we're both about to become toad summoners." She paused and made a face. "Fumi's done. We can sign up now."

"I should warn you about these toads," Jiraiya said as he bit his thumb to draw blood. "They're like my parents, so if they seem a little pushy, it's only because they're old and not used to anyone arguing with them. But their top priority is ensuring Naruto's protection."

Mikoto was tempted to ask if Jiraiya had become a pervert before or after these toads had entered his life, but didn't have time to ask as a large column of smoke shot up behind Jiraiya, quickly parting to reveal an orange toad nearly as tall as he was, as well as two smaller elderly toads that immediately sprang across the room to inspect the babies.

Itachi was a little startled when the elderly male toad latched onto his arm to lean over Sasuke's crib for a better look. Likewise, his mother did not seem to appreciate the elderly female toad practically shoving her face, warts and all, rather close to Hinata's. They all relaxed when Hinata's tiny hand reached up to gently pat the toad's mouth.

"She's going to be a gorgeous woman, I can tell already."

Mikoto's discomfort faded completely with those firm words from the female toad. "I agree. Her mother was quite breathtaking."

The female toad gave her a somewhat patient frown. "Genetics only do so much. It's her soul that will make her beautiful."

Mikoto didn't really feel she could argue with that, and so she didn't.

"I am Shima," the toad said importantly, reaching out to shake Mikoto's hand.

Mikoto carefully shook without much hesitation. "Uchiha Mikoto. You've already met Hinata. Those are my boys Itachi and Sasuke, and-"

"Naruto-chan!"

Every head turned to see the elderly male toad leaning over Naruto's crib, fat tears rolling down his face as he picked up the baby boy and embraced him. Naruto did not seem to understand what was happening, and amused himself by tugging on the toad's mustache.

"My husband, Fukasaku," Shima sighed, though not unkindly. "He's always been the more emotional one."

* * *

><p>Shizune had expected to be greeted with some tension as she returned to the village: there had just been a major attack, emotions were riding high, and her presence would not doubt remind everyone that she was not her mentor. But it was just the opposite: people seemed overjoyed that an additional healer had arrived, especially one so talented. Shizune was practically dragged through the gate and soon found herself surrounded by people with various injuries. By the time a team of ANBU had located and "rescued" her, she was exhausted and low on chakra, but had never felt better about her chosen profession and had earned more than a few lifelong fans.<p>

The ANBU took her directly to the Hokage, who had taken time out of his busy schedule to, at first glance, play with babies. When Shizune was escorted into the small nursery, the old man was speaking softly to a pink-haired baby girl in his arms. Once Shizune was properly seated, she was allowed to hold the little girl.

"It's so good to see you again, Shizune," the Hokage told her with a warm smile. "I would welcome you home, but I hear a crowd at the gate already did that."

"I expected as much, and I still wasn't prepared for the reality," Shizune admitted. "I just wish I hadn't come alone."

"It's enough that you came at all," he disagreed. "Perhaps you can help us where Tsunade would not. Am I correct in assuming that you are still a slug summoner?"

She nodded. "Yes, but if it's the contract you want, that might be a little difficult to arrange. I don't know if the slugs, and more importantly Katsuyu, would go against Tsunade."

"I trust Katsuyu to act more wisely and compassionately than Tsunade. Please inform her that I must speak with her immediately concerning a very urgent matter."

"It might help if I could stress exactly what this matter was," Shizune pointed out.

The Hokage sighed deeply. "The child in your arms is one of nine jinchūriki that currently keep at bay the power of the Nine-Tails. They need to be protected and taught, and that cannot happen here in the village. Jiraiya has already convinced the toads to take in three of the children. We still need to make arrangements for the other six. I'm hoping that Katsuyu will also take three."

"I'll do what I can," Shizune promised. "But if Katsuyu refuses, what then?"

Before the Hokage could answer, Shizune was blinded by a puff of smoke, and suddenly found herself holding two pink-haired babies instead of one.

"See that she doesn't, Shizune."

* * *

><p>Even as an infant, Aburame Shino was already showing remarkable signs of intelligence. He could tell that no one would come near him while his new bugs were crawling over his skin, so leaving them out was a sure sign that he wanted to be left alone, just as drawing them back in was a sign that he was ready for attention. Although, Shino could not yet understand why the bugs bothered people, especially when they were so helpful to him. It was easier to breathe now, and the bugs were remarkably good at adjusting their near-constant droning in a way that always matched Shino's current mood. The nurses learned to quickly distinguish his angry buzz, as it was usually a warning that he was about to release the bugs.<p>

Shino knew nothing of poison, but he could tell that something inside his body was making him sick. For the moment, the bugs seemed to have stopped it, or at least contained it.

Sometimes the bugs talked to Shino, or at least communicated in a way that he alone understood. Mostly they told him that he was safe, and that they would protect him so long as he did the same for them. But sometimes they told him that he was powerful, that others were weak, and that he was to be feared. Shino had noticed that the bugs who told him the latter were larger than his normal ones, and seemed to possess a sickly orange glow at night. More importantly, the bugs he thought of as his had all been given to him by the strange, bundled person who had been the first to hold him. She (for her scent had been female, all his bugs agreed) had not given him the glowing bugs, and Shino decided that they could have only come from inside of him.

Where the sickness was, as well.

This did not make him distrust the orange bugs, but it did cause him to view anything they said with uncertainty. It was possible that they were sick, too. If so, better to leave his decision-making up to the bugs that showed no signs of his illness.

It did not take Shino long to realize that the bugs had other uses. At first, he had been hesitant to send even one of them beyond his reach. But after continued promises that they would always return, he finally allowed it, and was amazed by the results. Not only did the bugs always return, they brought back something invaluable: information. They understood human speech perfectly, and while Shino did not (yet, at least, but thanks to the bugs, he was learning it far faster than any infant had a right to), the bugs were good at conveying their meaning to him. In this way, he was kept updated on the conditions of the other children (which only confirmed that he was indeed the sickest by comparison, though perhaps not the strangest), as well as what was going on around them.

The news that he and the other children would be moved soon was actually a relief to Shino. Though he understood that the barrier around his bed was meant to keep others from being infected with his illness, on some level he intensely disliked the idea of being contained. Of greater interest, however, was the fact that while his normal bugs could pass freely through the barrier with no problems, the larger ones tended to explode the moment they touched it. At first, Shino assumed that they were simply too large and caused the barrier to malfunction. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the barrier had been constructed to contain only things that might spread his sickness to others... which included the larger bugs, but clearly excluded the normal ones. This could only mean that either the barrier was not working properly, or the larger bugs carried the sickness while the normal ones did not. Since no one but the bundled woman had showed any signs of being infected, Shino was inclined to believe that the barrier was working. But that also meant that the sickness had a life of its own, separate from his. And since he could communicate with his normal bugs, there was no reason why he couldn't communicate with the sickness through the larger bugs.

However, this plan failed: the moment Shino began to attempt speaking with the larger bugs as if he knew some force were working through them, they ceased all communication and even refused to shown themselves. He could still sense them within his body, and they could clearly hear and understand him, so this behavior puzzled Shino.

It would not have puzzled him nearly as much, if he had known then that his sickness, or at least a large portion of it, was due to the presence of the Nine-Tails' chakra within his body. That was just one of many secrets that young Shino would come to learn and regret soon enough.

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 4: Prophecy<strong>

As the new arrivals settle in on Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage identifies the foretold Child of Prophecy among them. There are two problems, however: the Child isn't who Jiraiya expects, and the great change the Child is expected to usher in will begin with their death.


	5. Prophecy

**Senjutsu for the Soul**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 4: Prophecy**

* * *

><p>Hana was no stranger to nature: where civilians jogged or ninjas often trained outside, Inuzuka children had already learned how to survive outdoors for no less than a week before they reached ten years old. Hana distinctly remembered the first time she had been left alone in Konoha's forests. By the end of the week, she'd smelled horrible, and her clothes were filthy, but she could have survived another week easily, though only if she had found something to plug up her nose.<p>

What she was doing now was entirely different, though.

Konoha's terrain was, for the most part, natural forest, but forest that was accustomed to presence of man. There were wild animals, of course, and poisonous plants not found anywhere else in the world. Still, their populations were, while allowed to flourish, also kept under strict control.

Hana had never been in a forest where man appeared to be the lowest creature on the food chain, but that was exactly where she was now.

There had not been much choice in the matter. Itachi and his family, including Naruto and Hinata, had left Konoha with Jiraiya quite abruptly. Hana had seen Itachi's mother speaking with Jiraiya, so this didn't really surprise her. But then the Hokage had told her and the other guardians that the remaining six children would also need to leave the village: they would either be sheltered by Enma or Katsuyu. He allowed the guardians to discuss who would go where, with only one exception: Shino would go with Enma, although the reason for that was never revealed.

In the end, Hana had decided that Kiba would be better off with Enma. She didn't know much about slugs, but figured that she and Kiba had more in common with monkeys than slugs.

Yamanaka Inoichi did choose Katsuyu, which meant that Sakura and Ino would be in her care. That left Nara Yoshino in an awkward position, as she had two children to care for, and initially refused to leave her son Shikamaru, or Chōji, who had been entrusted to her. Though Shizune, who was probably the best medic-nin Konoha had to offer, promised to watch over Chōji, in the end Yoshino and Shizune were granted the rare honor of having a summoning contract with both Enma and Katsuyu, which would allow them to care for both boys.

Hana was already starting to regret her choice, though. Enma had summoned them to a mountain, but that, as it turned out, was only the starting point. The cave where he intended them to live was farther away, and the only way to get there was an hour-long hike through a treacherous forest.

Perhaps the only good thing about this was that Hana was slightly better prepared for the terrain than Shizune was. The trip was made more difficult for them both in that they each had to carry a baby, but Hana was already accustomed to walking around with Kiba tied securely to her chest. Even if Shizune had been as well, she still had to carry both Chōji and Shino (Enma had refused to touch any of the children until they were in full control of their bodily fuctions). The only way to do this safely was for Shizune to carry Chōji while a clone, protected by a safety suit, carried Shino. Twice they had to stop so Shizune could replace the clone, and once more when Enma decided they should break for lunch.

Enma provided curiously large black berries to eat, which Hana found a little too sweet, but ate without complaint. For the babies, they had been given plenty of milk, sealed into storage scrolls for easier traveling. Kiba and Chōji had the milk, but Shino, or at least his bugs, preferred the berries. Hana had noticed that Kiba always finished his food first, while Chōji almost seemed to savor every bit of his, as if he were already a professional taster. Shizune attributed this to their personalities, but Hana felt she was simply too polite to say that this more their clan characteristics emerging than anything else. Chōji also tended to fall asleep quickly after meals, while Kiba would only sleep if Hana rocked him and hummed softly first. Hana let Kiba stay awake for the hike, figuring that if he were stung by anything, she would want to know about it immediately.

By the time they finally reached the cave, Hana was so exhausted that she found a comfortable rock (or at least one without many sharp edges) and fell asleep against it, with Kiba still tied to her chest. When she woke up hours later, Shizune had sectioned off the back of the cave and set up a barrier to keep Shino from accidentally infecting anyone. She did, however, send a clone to check on him several times an hour. Hana was no expert, but she knew that solid clones required a large amount of chakra, a fact that was soon confirmed when she saw a scroll with several boxes of soldier pills sealed inside among Shizune's belongings. It made Hana realize that all things considered, she'd gotten off lucky with Kiba. Sometimes he cried a bit too loud or too long for her tastes, but she could touch him safely, and he didn't really require much extra care beyond what any other baby would need. Really, he would probably need even less care, once he got old enough to walk, and learned what hurt him and what didn't. Then and there, Hana decided that she would do everything she could to help Shizune. It just didn't seem fair that Shizune would have to look after two children, neither of which were hers.

* * *

><p>From the first moment they arrived in a burst of smoke on Mount Myōboku, Itachi, his family, and Jiraiya were surrounded by toads of all shapes and sizes. Most of them simply seemed curious about their guests, but others clearly knew who they were and wished to greet them warmly. Almost all the toads wanted to see and touch Naruto, though, and Itachi wasn't sure how safe this was. But his mother allowed it, partially because Fukasaku was clearly so devoted to Naruto that he hadn't put the boy down once since first being allowed to hold him. While Hinata was not as popular as Naruto, several female toads (at least, Itachi assumed they were female) cooed at her and carefully tickled her. Just as obvious was that surprisingly few toads were interested in Sasuke. Some did at least take a quick glance, but only because he happened to be nearby after they'd first seen Naruto or Hinata. This would have bothered Itachi, if not for Shima. She did not seem prefer any one child over another, but she stayed by his mother's side the entire time, and gave sharp looks to anyone who she felt did not handle the children properly.<p>

After the meet and greet, they were lead into an enormous room, where an equally enormous and ancient toad wearing a hat sat on a pedestal, dozing peacefully. Once the other toads had filled the room, someone poked the enormous toad, and he came awake with a loud, undignified snort. Blinking sleepily, he stared at the gathered humans for a long moment.

"They will be given shelter and food," he said at last in a weak, quivering voice, but it was clear that his words were taken as commands, since Shima gestured and several toads immediately ran from the room to make preparations. Then the old toad's head began to droop, and soon he was snoring again. Itachi expected someone would poke him awake a second time, but he must have missed something, because toads began to file out of the room. Apparently there they were done, after all.

"You will all come to my house, of course," Shima said, waving her arms grandly. "I will cook for you."

Itachi thought this was very generous, at first. Then he reminded himself what it was that toads usually ate, and wondered if he might be better off sampling some of the giant vegetation he'd seen on the way in. Itachi had just started to follow Shima out of the room when the ancient told snorted and woke himself up with a start. His great, watery eyes flew wildly around the room, and he slowly pointed.

"Oh, by the way," he croaked. "That one is the Child of Prophecy. He will die soon."

This was met with complete silence. Jiraiya seemed relieved and horrified at the same time.

Itachi could sympathize. Part of him was relieved, because the old toad wasn't pointing at any of the babies. The rest was horrified, because the old toad was pointing directly at him.

* * *

><p>"Something's bothering you, Inoichi. What is it?"<p>

Inoichi did not bother to lift his head. He was seated on a large boulder that overlooked the lake, carefully cradling Sakura and her twin in his arms. Though he had not known Yoshino nearly as long as he had her husband Shikaku, she was still able to read him (and indeed most men) like a book, a talent that always annoyed him in people outside his clan. "The usual, Yoshino," he murmured.

She gave him a sour look as she walked up to him. "I don't believe that for a second. There's nothing 'usual' about your situation and we both know it."

It was not easy, but Inoichi managed to keep his tone even, if not polite. "I'm doing the same as you are, Yoshino. I'm surviving the only way I know how. If something is bothering me, then it's my problem and mine alone. I appreciate your concern, but I'll deal with it. Alone, if you don't mind."

"And if I do mind?" she challenged, coming to stand in front of him.

He sighed, staring out over the lake. "I have three children to look after. I don't have time for a fourth. If you want to play games, maybe you should try Enma's group."

Yoshino frowned and, without warning, plucked one of the pink-haired girls from his arms.

Inoichi was on his feet at once. "Give her-"

"Which one is this?" Yoshino asked, turning away and gently tickling the girl's chin.

"Sakura."

"How can you tell? Did you even name the other one yet?"

"Because I can, and no."

"Every child needs a name."

Inoichi nearly told her then and there that yes, every child did, but what he held was no mere child. He thought better of it when the girl in his arms yawned, revealing a single, sharp tooth. "Shouldn't you be watching your own child?"

"That's boring," she replied. "Do you have any idea how often he sleeps? It's like he's an old man already."

Shikamaru did indeed sleep more than the other babies, Inoichi realized. Nearly every time he put Ino down for a nap, Shikamaru was already there, fast asleep. This unfortunately gave Yoshino quite a bit of free time to pester whoever she chose. Fortunately, she enjoyed playing with babies more than pestering Inoichi, so he was rarely ever made to suffer her attention. He watched with a faint smile as she coaxed Sakura into grabbing her finger.

Then something went wrong.

Inoichi looked on as Yoshino's long, dark hair suddenly turned bright pink. It was a simple genjutsu, and easily broken. But as he prepared to put down the baby girl to cancel it, he noticed that Yoshino's eyes had turned a shade of green that he recognized at once. And then he knew.

Sakura was trying, whether she realized it or not, to turn Yoshino into her mother, or at least the vision of her that Kushina had no doubt appeared to her as. Yoshino did not even seem to be aware of it, which was more than a little odd, considering she was a chūnin.

Then Yoshino looked at him and smirked. "Looking good, Pinky."

He was about to ask what she meant when he caught a glimpse of himself in the lake and scowled at his now all-pink hair. Certain that somewhere, Kushina was laughing at him, Inoichi cancelled the genjutsu. Inwardly, though, this concerned him. It meant that both Sakura and Shikamaru already had easy access to their chakra, with seemingly no help from the Nine-Tails. It was starting to look like Kushina had been right: he no longer had any idea what he was dealing with.

* * *

><p>Itachi skipped dinner. Partially because Shima prepared a heaping bowl of worms and insects, doused in a liquid that smelled suspiciously like swamp water. But mostly because he had already lost his appetite, anyway.<p>

Being told he was going to die gave him an odd feeling. He suddenly felt the need to do everything he'd ever wanted to do, before his time ran out. Itachi was quickly made to realize that this was impossible: in just one night, he managed to ruin everything.

First, he'd been distracted enough where he couldn't really take proper care of Hinata. Shima had volunteered, and Hinata liked her well enough. But what Hinata apparently did not like was Itachi handing her off to someone while he himself was upset, because she had started screaming the moment Shima took her away.

Naturally, this set off Sasuke as well. As near as Itachi could tell, Sasuke didn't like the idea of another baby stealing his thunder.

Never one to be left out, Naruto joined in, more because everyone else was doing it, and they seemed to be getting lots of attention as a result.

For more than an hour, Itachi simply walked around the mountain. It did not improve his mood at all, but it did give him time to order his thoughts. From the little he had been told by Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage's prophecies were always accurate. So, Itachi probably was going to die soon. But as old as the Great Toad Sage was, to him "soon" might be anywhere from a few days to ten years, possibly even longer. But given how concerned many of the toads seemed, Itachi suspected he would never manage to grow a single gray hair. No matter what, he would have to accomplish as much as he possibly could while there was still time. That meant he could waste no more time worrying about when he would die.

He quickly returned to Shima's home, only to find her waiting outside with Hinata, who was still wailing. Itachi immediately took Hinata, and neither he nor Shima was surprised when Hinata quieted down at once. Itachi carefully brushed away her tears with his fingertips. "I'm sorry, Hinata," he murmured. "I'm not a very good parent today, am I?"

Hinata sniffled softly, then reached for his face, as she usually did when someone had captured her attention.

Itachi brought her closer, allowing her tiny hands to explore his face. Her hands paused just beneath his eyes, and at first Itachi thought she was merely being considerate, perhaps having learned from when Naruto and Sasuke had been anything but with others. Then her chakra flared, and Itachi felt a mild burning sensation where her fingers met his skin. He ignored the first instinct that told him he was being attacked: perhaps Hinata was upset at being abandoned, but he could not imagine that she would ever purposely cause anyone serious harm.

Without warning, the pain suddenly vanished, and Hinata's hands fell away, even as she closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

Itachi blinked several times, his eyes suddenly feeling watery. Judging by the suddenly sharper vision and excess chakra flow he could sense around his eyes, Hinata had just forcibly activated his Sharingan. He hadn't know such a thing was possible. Then again, he doubted Hinata had known it, either.

"Boy," Shima said softly, with some alarm. "Your eyes..."

"It's only my Sharingan, Shima-san," Itachi assured.

"It isn't," Shima insisted. "You only had two tomoe in each eye when she started. Now you have three in each."

Itachi stared at her in wonder, then at Hinata. "Why?" he breathed, holding her closer. "Why did you do this?"

"Maybe she can sense the change in you, boy. You're in a hurry to do things now, I imagine. Those eyes should help you along. They're her gift to you."

Itachi considered that in silence. He had always been told that he was lucky to have unlocked his Sharingan so soon. Thanks to Hinata, he now had a fully matured Sharingan, and far more options than he had ever expected to. Being careful not to wake her, he gently kissed Hinata's forehead. "I won't waste your gift, Hinata. I swear it."

* * *

><p>The sealing method that Uzumaki Kushina had used to defeat the Nine-Tails was rather unique, in that it had never been used by a human before. At least, if it had been used before, the results had been entirely different. Exceptional though she was for a ninja and a human, it simply was not in any way possible for Kushina to have managed such a feat on her own.<p>

And that, more than anything else, had puzzled the Nine-Tails since its defeat. He had been there at the time, of course, and he had known the circumstances all too well. The Fourth Hokage had used most of his power to seal away half of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and clearly intended to doom the Nine-Tails himself to life imprisonment inside his newborn son. Refusing to die in such an insulting manner, the Nine-Tails had struck the Hokage a certain deathblow. That had been the plan, at least, but Kushina had thrown herself in the way, though in the end this merely meant they were both impaled on one of the fox's tails. He couldn't have asked for a better scenario, because as the light left their eyes, they could watch him crush their precious son into paste.

But then Kushina's eyes had fixed upon him, not with hatred, but with understanding, as if she had finally realized something important. Then, using words she should not have known, and in a tongue only one human had ever used before, she performed the dreaded sealing. And as his body was ripped apart again and again, the Nine-Tails knew, with certainty, that he had been betrayed. No human should have known, could have known any way to defeat him so utterly. None but the honorable Sage of Six Paths himself, and he would never had wished such pain upon any of his beloved children, no matter how far they had fallen from his original intentions. Only another demon could have revealed such secrets to Kushina, but that in itself was even more impossible. None of them had been anywhere near Konoha at the time, as the Nine-Tails would have sensed them. Beyond that, there was no way that a lesser demon would have known a way to defeat him, the mightiest of them all. It simply made no sense, and yet Kushina had found a way.

Kushina, despite bleeding heavily and clearly being on her last legs, had sealed his fate. And as a final insult, she had drawn the seals in her own lifeblood, ensuring that each portion of his chakra that was sealed into a child was also accompanied by a little of her own essence. Not much, but enough where, if the Nine-Tails chose to lower himself to it, he could converse with Kushina. Of course, immediately after the sealing, he had been so furious with her that he simply hadn't bothered to try talking to her. But now that there had been time to cool down, fury had given way in the face of curiosity. Part of him simply had to know how Kushina had managed it, if only so he would never be defeated by such a dirty trick again.

Though he could have done it within any of the children, the Nine-Tails chose to approach Kushina in her own son, suspecting her presence would be strongest there. If there was a violent confrontation, Naruto's mindscape would best show what his mother was still capable of. Surely she would go farther to protect him than any of the other children, and once the Nine-Tails was fully aware of what she could do, it would only be a matter of time until he was free once again.

The idea was doomed from the start.

Kushina was indeed present in some way within all of the children, and the version she sealed in Naruto was indeed the most powerful. But right away the Nine-Tails realized he had greatly underestimated her. The Kushina left to watch over Naruto was different in one essential way: instead of being preserved as an adult, this one was a young girl, certainly no older than twelve. At first glance, this would imply that she was less powerful than the other versions, and that perhaps the greater protections within Naruto's seal had meant that Kushina's presence within him could be safely reduced. But the Nine-Tails had been with Kushina long enough to know that she would never assume such a thing with her son's life at risk. She would give him the best safeguards no matter the cost to her or anyone else.

This theory was instantly proven correct: the youthful Kushina raised her head and pointed at him. "By your name, I command you," she whispered in the old tongue. "Kurama, stand before me."

At once, freezing cold chains erupted from her fingertip, wrapping around his neck and dragging him from the shadows. If the Nine-Tails was not so shocked, he would have been outraged.

"Who told you my name?!" he demanded. "Who showed you how to command me?! Name the traitor!"

"Not even if I were free to," Kushina replied, tightening the chains with a gesture, just to show that she could, before relaxing them the slightest bit. "I've done what I intended. You won't underestimate me again, Kurama, nor should you. I may be dead, but I learned plenty in the moments before my death. I am not your enemy, and if you were smart, you'd do everything in your power to help me."

"I don't believe you," Kurama whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"We have nothing but time here," Kushina pointed out. "I can't tell you how I learned what I know, but I can listen. Tell me your story, Kurama. The parts I don't already know, that is."

"I haven't given you permission to use my name."

"No. But you would hate me even more if I continued to use a name you never asked for, wouldn't you? There has been enough hatred, Kurama. We were never friends, and maybe we never will be. But now I know that you aren't the only monster in the world, that there are far greater evils than you. That's what I'll protect my son from, with or without your help. Though if you want to keep on living, even in this shattered form, you would help me."

It went without saying that Kurama would never allow himself to trust another human. Still, it might be possible to hate one a bit less than he did most others, especially if his destruction was the alternative.

* * *

><p>It was not the first prophecy that Jiraiya had hoped wouldn't come true. In fact, if he was honest with himself, the state of his life had pretty much been on a steady decline since he'd met Uchiha Itachi, though of course it wasn't at all the kid's fault.<p>

The prophecy had not gone over well with anyone. If looks could kill, Jiraiya and most of the toads would be dead or worse, if Uchiha Mikoto had anything to say about it. She had only agreed to come in the interest of protecting the children, but she had not expected to have someone tell her that her oldest son would die.

Itachi had been quiet on the subject, which hadn't really surprised Jiraiya. Itachi gave every sign of being a quiet kid, so Jiraiya would have been more surprised if Itachi had a major outburst instead. Still, he had expected some reaction beyond saying nothing. So far, none of the toads had spotted the kid acting oddly, though Jiraiya wasn't sure that was a good thing. Keeping something like that bottled up might be nice for everyone else in the short-term, but it couldn't be good for Itachi. The last thing Jiraiya wanted was to try and reach out to Itachi, though: he had never been a big fan of the Uchiha, and he felt pretty sure that Mikoto wouldn't like it. She was willing to tolerate him for Naruto's sake, but his reputation preceded him, and Jiraiya didn't want to risk earning Mikoto's wrath any more than he already had.

Oddly enough, though Jiraiya had purposely kept his distance, it was Itachi who came to find him in the meeting cave.

"Quite a day, huh, kid?" Jiraiya asked with a humorless smile.

Itachi stared at him for a long moment, and then fell to his knees, bowing his head to the ground. "Please train me, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya gaped at him. "Are you serious? You want me to train you? Why?"

"You know that my time is limited. I want to do as much good here as I can. I want to protect the children. I can't do that without power."

"It isn't a bad idea," Jiraiya admitted. "But why me? Your mother may not be the most active ninja right now, but she's no slouch. She could train you."

"She doesn't know Senjutsu."

Jiraiya frowned deeply. "Who told you about that?"

"Shima-san. I asked her if she knew of a way to protect the children, and she suggested Senjutsu. Of course, she told me it would probably be years before I could learn it. But she said you were the only human who had come close to mastering it in some time."

Jiraiya wasn't sure if Shima had purposely neglected to point out that the best teacher for Senjutsu would always be a toad, but he had lived long enough to know she must have had a good reason. "I don't take on just anyone as my student. You have to prove that you really want this, kid."

"What must I do to prove my determination?"

"Well, uh... there's a toad," Jiraiya said uncertainly.

"Which toad?" Itachi asked at once.

Jiraiya stared to answer, then paused and smiled. "I'm not telling. But there is a toad. He's an odd one. Not so great with people. And in all his life, he's only accepted one person as his summoner. If you can find him and convince him to become your personal summon, I'll train you."

Itachi slowly raised his head. "That isn't very much to go on."

"Nope. But you can't just expect me to hand you all the answers, kid."

"I understand." Itachi stood up, bowed again, and left the cave immediately.

Smirking, Jiraiya slowly stepped out of the cave. The kid would never be able to find Gamaken. He kept well away from the other toads, and even if Itachi did manage to find him, Gamaken had never really been a people-toad. He would never accept the kid. But was that really a good thing? Shima wouldn't have put such a crazy idea into Itachi's head without a reason. It was time Jiraiya found out what that reason was.

* * *

><p>There were other small toads on the mountain, and even other small albino toads.<p>

The toad called Gamashiro was the only one with the curious white chakra, however, and he was reminded of it everywhere he went. Once, they told him, he had been a normal tadpole, colored the same as any other. But the first time he'd accessed his chakra, his flesh had been bleached of all pigment, and from that day forward, his life had never been the same. Toads, thankfully, were not like humans. Instead of being turned into an outcast, Gamashiro's differences were praised even by the elder toads. Despite his size, it was thought by many that Gamashiro was the best warrior born on the mountain in generations. When his chakra sang within him and instinct took over, he was said to be unstoppable. Time and time again he had been urged to partner with a summoner, but Gamashiro had refused, preferring to remain part of the honor guard that protected the elder toads. He had heard stories about humans and their wars, and wanted nothing to do with them. He liked the few summoners that had won Gamabunta's favor, but was aware that they did not represent the majority of humans.

Gamashiro had never seen a human infant before the jinchuriki children came to the mountain. It was difficult for him to believe that such tiny, uncoordinated creatures could possibly grow into men capable of war.

That same evening, he was assigned to guard the home of elders Shima and Fukasaku. This was nothing new, as he had done so many times before, and the old couple treated him rather like a grandson. Shima was always known to comment that his small size was due to not drinking enough of her homemade chilled fly juice, and shoved a cup at him at least twice a day. Gamashiro endured this out of respect, love, and the simple fact that he did rather enjoy fly juice.

Around two in the morning, there was a disturbance in the form of shrill cries. Gamashiro rushed into the house, only to find Shima humming softly as she bounced one of the children in her arms. She eyed him with some amusement. "If you react that way each time one of the children cries, you'll be bursting into my house virtually nonstop for the next few years," she said. "Best get used to the sound."

He lowered his head in apology.

"Well, come on, then. You're here, you might as well help out. Hold Hinata while I check on the other two."

Before he could protest, the child was shoved into his arms, and Shima was gone. Bewildered, Gamashiro looked down at Hinata, only to stare into tiny, round eyes without color. Eyes so very much like his own.

Intrigued, he carefully touched Hinata's cheek, and received a gummy smile and a stream of soft babbling in return.

It was several minutes before Shima returned, making some excuse about needing sleep. Gamashiro barely heard her.

In the morning, another young toad took over as the house guard, and Gamashiro became the first toad assigned to protect the jinchūriki children.

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 5: Seven<strong>

Nine children were chosen. Nine children were cursed. But some children are just that: children. Not heroes, not protectors, not saviors. Just children. And while seven year-old Naruto is reunited with Kushina within his seal, he is unaware that some of their number simply have no more to give. Nine set out from the village. Two will never return.


	6. Seven

Notes: Beware the seven year timeskip about halfway through the chapter. I think you'll know when it comes, though. Kinda obvious, really.

* * *

><p><strong>Senjutsu for the Soul<strong>

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 5: Seven**

* * *

><p>Uchiha Mikoto took a deep breath, staring up at the giant toad before her with unusual calm. "So let me see if I have this right, Gamabunta-sama. Some idiot who shall remain nameless challenged my son to find a certain toad. Said toad, who while blameless, frequently meditates inside of a giant, fire-breathing mountain toad who despises being disturbed by strangers. My Itachi, genius that he is, hypnotized an elder toad into telling him the precise location of this mountain toad, and upon finding it, attempted to enter its mouth. All of which explains why my Itachi now looks like he's been doused in acid and partially digested."<p>

Gamabunta had the decency to look ashamed, despite the fact that he towered over Mikoto. "I am sorry, Mikoto-san. The boy came to me and asked for advice. I was the one who suggested he talk to an elder, but I thought he simply wanted to meet Gamaken. I had no idea that Jiraiya had put such a foolish notion into his head, or that he would actually try to force his way into Gamaryuu's mouth. Every toad on the mountain knows better than that."

"I suppose we do as well, now," Mikoto sighed. "Shima-san assures me that the rest of Itachi's hair will grow back eventually, and I understand no lasting harm was done to Gamaryuu, either. At any rate, I think we'll all be satisfied if I simply go and murder Jiraiya now."

Gamabunta chuckled. "I won't lie, I've felt like that many times myself. But the scoundrel does have his uses, and at least until those kids grow up, he's the best summoner we've got. I can't let you kill him just yet. Once your boy is of age, though, we'll seriously consider it."

"I trust you mean if he lasts that long?" Mikoto asked, frowning. "With all due respect to your Great Toad Sage, I really don't like his latest prophecy."

"He doesn't give them to be popular," Gamabunta replied uneasily. "He does it to warn us of things to come. But I think it's safe to say he didn't foresee your son dying in Gamaryuu's mouth."

"No, that's just what Jiraiya intended, obviously."

"I doubt that. Gamaryuu keeps to himself, but he is far from bloodthirsty. The only reason he wouldn't have spit your boy out right away is if Itachi was doing something to prevent that. From what I heard, Itachi crafted a very convincing illusion of being a tasty fly. He's lucky he wasn't swallowed whole."

Mikoto shook her head, deciding to move on. "While I've got you here, are there any other dangers here we need to know about? You've already mentioned that fountain with the special oil, and Shima-san assures me that's guarded at all times, anyway."

"I wish it was that easy, Mikoto-san. But you must understand that we aren't accustomed to having so many humans on the mountain at once, and certainly not children. By the time most people get here, they are seasoned ninja that come alone and already have a finely tuned sense of what is dangerous to them, and what isn't. And while I expect Itachi knew exactly how dangerous his attempt was, he never should have been talked into it in the first place. All I can tell you is that we'll be more careful, especially where the babies are concerned."

"I guess that'll have to be good enough, for now. But just tell me one thing: Itachi is stuck on this idea that he can become a sage. How likely is that? I mean, what's the success rate?"

Gamabunta was no fool. If he told Mikoto the actual rate, she would likely forbid Itachi from even attempting the training. It probably wouldn't stop him, but it would slow down his progress considerably, if he also had to evade his angry mother. But if he lied now, and Mikoto learned the truth when Itachi was deep in the training, or, heaven forbid, failed the training, she would probably do her best to kill every toad on the mountain who had known and not warned her.

"Jiraiya is a fool. We both know that. He still got farther in the training than most humans ever do. And the way I see it, Itachi is smarter and more determined than Jiraiya is now. If I were a gambling toad, I'd put my money on your kid surpassing Jiraiya in no time, Mikoto-san."

Mikoto was no fool, either. Though she did not possess the Sharingan, she was still a jonin of Konoha, and more importantly, she had learned multiple ways to read men. It was a bit more difficult with male toads, but being giant-sized, there was only so much Gamabunta could hide without being terribly obvious. Aside from that, she knew her son, and knew that even if no one else helped him, Itachi would not rest until he became a sage. If he had the backing of even one toad, however, he would likely get much farther. And from the little she'd seen of Gamaken, he had been greatly impressed with Itachi's skill and sheer nerve. That could mean nothing good for her oldest son's future.

* * *

><p>High up on one of Mount Myōboku's rocky peaks, the giant red toad Gamaken gazed calmly at the passing clouds. On his head was the heavily bandaged form of Uchiha Itachi.<p>

"That was the craziest thing I've ever seen," Gamaken said for the third time.

Itachi managed a tiny smile and winced. "You still haven't answered my question, though."

"You don't want me for your partner," Gamaken assured him nervously. "I'm ungraceful, you know."

Itachi laughed. "You're ungraceful? Look at me!"

Gamaken could not help a soft chuckle. "True. But I am more ungraceful. The most ungraceful, even."

Itachi closed his eyes and gently patted the toad's head. "Then please allow us to be ungraceful together, Gamaken-san."

Gamaken said nothing, but deep down, his heart was filled to bursting with excitement. He liked Jiraiya and would fight for him an in instant, but the fact was that Jiraiya was a powerful ninja, and so rarely needed any toad's help, and certainly not Gamaken's. At best he was little more than one of Jiraiya's occasional drinking partners. But Itachi had risked life and limb for the right to be Gamaken's partner. No one had ever been so determined to have his help before, and it was hard to refuse the request given that. Aside from that, he genuinely liked Itachi, and more importantly, he wanted a partner.

"So you really want to become a sage," Gamaken murmured. "It's not easy. Dangerous, too."

"I'm a ninja," Itachi replied. "Anything that's worth me doing will likely be both difficult and dangerous. At least there's a worthy purpose behind this. I need to become strong enough to protect my family."

"You're going to die. The Great Toad Sage said so."

Itachi closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "Yes. And if I'm going to die, anyway, I should live without fear of consequences, don't you think? I want to be able to say that I lived my life to the fullest, without any regrets. That I used all the time I had to do the most I could in this world. My time is limited, but that just means I can't afford to waste it any longer."

"So let's make you a sage, then," Gamaken decided with a slight nod. "I'll get you ready for Jiraiya's training, and once he's done with you, it'll be up to an elder toad to take you the rest of the way."

"What do we do first?" Itachi asked eagerly.

"First, you need to heal up. Because as soon as you're done, we're going back into Gamaryuu's mouth to train."

* * *

><p>Seven years.<p>

Of being shut in a cave, with no one for real company except a woman who pitied him, and another convinced she could save him, no matter how many times she failed.

Seven years.

Of watching his friends grow strong and healthy, while he grew steadily weaker. Softer. Frailer. Most days he barely bothered to move more than a few inches in any direction. There was no point. What little exercise he could manage might strengthen him, for a time. But in the end, all the training in the world would make no difference. The posion was in his blood and in his breath, constantly coursing through his veins, slowly but surely killing him even as it kept him alive for the time being.

Seven years.

Of choking down concoction after concoction, some tasting as vile as his own blood, and so far there was nothing quite so vile as that. Some made him sicker, but even being sick from something other than the poison took his mind off of dying, if only for a while.

Seven years.

Of having already given up the fight, but knowing those around him would never accept his decision. So he tolerated the useless medicine, the meaningless words of encouragement, and the endless days of nothingness.

Seven years.

Of knowing he was going to die, cursing the demon that was killing him, and cursing the woman who had done this to him even more.

Seven years.

Of greeting the others with weary smiles, pretending he still had hope, and meanwhile hating them every moment for refusing to let him die as he wanted to.

Aburame Shino had had seven years to think, to plot, to suffer, to hate, to rot. He was tired of so many things, but most of all, of existing. What he knew of the world outside the cave came only from the bugs that he sent out, and the news that visitors brought him. And it was never anywhere close to being enough.

When he first learned of Uchiha Itachi's desire to become a sage, Shino laughed for the first time in his life. Finally, he thought. A way out of his own personal hell. He had guessed Itachi's plan to save them, and save them Itachi would. Some he would save from the Nine Tails. The rest, he would save from themselves. Shino could not really say whether it was the demon or the circumstances that turned his heart black. All that mattered to him was that his heart was indeed black now, and there was no turning it back to what it had been before.

Seven years.

Of waiting for the one person who could at last deliver him: a sage who had grown alongside them, and been exposed to enough demonic chakra that he could manipulate it as easily as he could natural energy.

Seven years.

Of waiting for Itachi to become what he was always meant to be: a bringer of darkness and light, death and life, damnation and liberation.

Shino had waited long enough. After seven years, he sent a bug to Itachi, and Itachi came to him in the cave for the first time.

They talked of many things: Shino's mother, the constant fear that Ino lived in, how strong Naruto would no doubt become, how weak Hinata remained, how Konoha had moved on without all of them.

"You have to let me die," Shino told him.

"You will be the first," Itachi promised.

Shino smiled knowingly. "But not the last."

* * *

><p>As he did every night, Yamanaka Inoichi watched over his daughter while she slept. If ever he failed to be by her side when she was ready to sleep, she would stay awake, not out of stubborness, but sheer fear. Really, he could not blame her: in the seven years that she had grown, so, too, had the ability of the Nine Tails to control her. Sometimes in the middle of a sentence, the dreaded red would bleed into her eyes, and her sweet voice would deepen into a mixture of growling and laughter. And, of course, if Inoichi did not watch her while she slept, there was always the chance she would wake up elsewhere, with either no idea what she'd done, or worse, knowing exactly what she'd done while she had been the demon's plaything.<p>

Inoichi's only comfort was that Kushina clearly had tried. For a time, Ino had had some semblance of control, but that was long gone now. Her only freedom now came when the demon was resting, bored, or otherwise occupied. And odds were that anything else that could hold the demon's attention was nothing good for anyone. Because it was clear now that either Ino's seal simply wasn't as effective as the others, or the demon was simply far more cruel than Inoichi had ever imagined.

Not even one of the other children was a slave to the Nine Tails' will the way Ino was. Even Sakura, who had shown an alarming willingness to access the demon's chakra as a baby, had merely grown more adept at handling it without being taken over. While this was not entirely surprising, given that her seal array was of the anchor variety, the fact remained that none of the other outlet seals seemed as ineffective as Ino's. Even poor Shino remained himself at all times, though Inoichi could understand why the Nine Tails would have no interest in being in control of a sickly, poison-riddled body. And on the other end of the spectrum, along with Sakura, Naruto and Kiba almost seemed to thrive on the demon's chakra. Even there, there were easy excuses other than their seals: as an Inuzuka, Kiba was going to be at least slightly feral no matter what, so it could be argued that the fox's chakra wasn't that big of an adjustment for him. Likewise, Naruto had the blood of both a Hokage and an Uzumaki in him, so no one was really surprised at his resistance to nearly all of the ill effects of being a jinchūriki. No one could say it hadn't cost him, and consequently Naruto seemed to hate the demon more than anyone, but he still seemed to be best prepared and suited to contain the Nine Tails. As Inoichi had always believed.

And there, too, was an area where the children greatly differed. For the most part, no matter what anyone said, the children did not blame Kushina for what she had done to them. No doubt this was in part because Uchiha Mikoto and then later Naruto had always been there to defend Kushina's actions, even though her motivations remained a mystery to them as well. Hinata credited Kushina with having saved her life, as it was common opinion now that without the regenerative properties of the demon's chakra, she most likely would not have survived her birth or early childhood. Sakura also seemed to view Kushina with a certain amount of reverence that was unusual, especially since she and Naruto had been known to have heated arguments about the demon: Sakura felt they should learn to get better at using the demonic power, and Naruto felt their only job was to keep it sealed away for as long as they could. But no matter how much or how hard they fought, anyone could see that Naruto was hopelessly in love with Sakura, and that nothing would become of it until and unless they reached a compromise.

All of it only seemed to make Ino's situation worse by comparison. Sometimes he wished she were dying as Shino was. Sometimes Inoichi thought about killing her himself. So many times he had taken her down to the lakeside, supposedly to get some fresh air. So many times he had thought about putting her head under the water, and holding it there. It was a monstrous idea, to be sure. But part of him knew that Ino wouldn't even struggle if he did. Part of him knew she wanted to die as desperately as he wanted her to. Such thoughts kept him up at night... which, conveniently enough, had him wide awake when he was supposed to be watching Ino sleep.

If anyone other than Ino suspected the direction of his thoughts, they never confronted him. Sometimes Shikamaru would stare at him, with eyes so full of knowing that Inoichi truly believed the boy heard his every thought. But Shikamaru never said anything. Aside from that, he wasn't really close to Ino. No one was, save Naruto, and that was mostly because Ino wanted to believe that Naruto could somehow protect her from the demon's influence. She looked forward to his visits with a need that was as pathetic as it was terrifying. He was, in every sense of the words, her only hope. Sakura and Shikamaru had long since tired of Ino, and in truth could not fully appreciate her situation, when it was so very different from their own. Sakura did not actually seem to even fear the demon, and Shikamaru had always kept his opinions to himself. No, they could never understand what Ino's life was, and they didn't seem to want to, either.

It was because the demon didn't make them suffer, Inoichi knew. If anything, the demonic chakra only seemed to empower Sakura, and to date Shikamaru had never said a word against it, though Inoichi had still seen him use it, just not as much as Sakura did. He couldn't really expect them to know what Ino's life was. That was a horror that only he could hope to understand.

Inoichi pushed these thoughts aside as Ino stirred in her sleep. He tensed at once, ready to act if she gave any sign that the fox was surfacing. But really, there was nothing he could do. Pain only increased the demon's presence. Knocking Ino unconcious only made her easier for the fox to control. Entering Ino's mind at all was risky, and doing so with the fox in control was a death wish. And even if Naruto had been there, if he had the ability to force the demon back within his own body, it wasn't something he'd learned to do for others yet.

The moment eventually passed without incident, and Ino settled down, her breathing evening out.

Sighing, Inoichi reached out to stroke her hair. That was his intent, anyway, but somehow he found his hand holding a kunai to the vulnerable flesh of her neck instead. Perhaps the most terrifying part of this realization was that there was no terror at the thought of killing his only child. This could only be a mercy, something Ino had often desired from him but never dared to ask for. There was not even uncertainty in him at first: his hand was steady, had never been more steady, in fact. And he had cut many a throat in his lifetime. But this was not for the Hokage, for the village, or even for the pursuit of the greatest good. This was for Ino, and it was the only thing he could do for her now. His love was not enough to protect her from the demon, and it never would be.

He must have stayed that way too long, because suddenly Ino sighed and began to open her eyes. "Papa?" she murmured sleepily, knowing no one else would have stayed with her while she slept. Then the world came into focus as her vision cleared, and she finally noticed the kunai at her throat.

"Ino," he whispered, trying to transfer the cold steel in his hand to his voice. He wasn't sure it worked out so well.

She stared up at him, and there was no hurt or betrayal in her eyes: only resignation. "It's okay, Papa," she whispered. "Really. I understand."

"How could it ever be okay?" he choked out.

"Because it always was," Ino replied with a watery smile. "Honestly, I think this is the best option."

"How can you say-"

"You haven't been in my mind in so long, Papa. You don't know what he says. What he threatens me with, if I try to fight him. But you've always been smarter than me. You can guess, can't you?"

Inoichi could. There were really only two things Ino cared about: himself and Naruto. And the Nine Tails couldn't exactly threaten Naruto effectively.

"He gives me dreams," Ino sighed. "Of bathing in your blood. And I wake up wanting to claw my own eyes out, but I know it wouldn't matter, because it's my mind that sees the dream, not my eyes. And if I could shut down my mind, I would have done it a long time ago. But I know now, Papa. I know what it means, to love someone more than your own life. Because I'd rather die than live, knowing I could one day be responsible for your death and not even know it."

Inoichi knew that was a slim hope at best: if the demon forced Ino to kill him, it would make her relive that memory over and over again, until she lost her mind and gave into him completely. That was the way the fox worked.

"Do it while he's not here, Papa," Ino said, closing her eyes. "I'm ready."

Inoichi threw the kunai away. "If it was in me to do that, do you really think we'd be here now, Ino?"

She didn't open her eyes. "I guess not."

Inoichi took a deep breath, but it didn't help at all. "I love you, Ino," he said, unable to look at her.

She tentatively touched his hand, and when he didn't pull away, squeezed it tightly. "I love you, Papa."

Not surprisingly, the demon didn't come that night. He didn't need to. There was no reason to make the puppets dance when they had already learned the steps.

* * *

><p>Of all the jinchūriki children, Naruto had always been the happiest, despite everything. He had lost his parents, but he remained determined to be happy. Mikoto often told him that his parents would want that, and considering the Uchihas were the only stable family he knew, he figured she knew what she was talking about. Sure, Sasuke should have been the happiest of them, but even with his family mostly intact, he was both arrogant and prone to fits of jealousy when he thought Naruto or Hinata were getting attention that should have been his. Naruto understood this, up to a point: keeping Hinata healthy took up an awful lot of Mikoto's time, but that was hardly Hinata's fault. Mikoto always made time for each of them, and Naruto had never felt as if he were being neglected. Of course, when every toad on the mountain knew his name and most were eager to play with him, it was impossible to feel left out.<p>

Naruto did feel sorry for Sasuke, who was expected to share his family, and was never really given a choice in the matter. But it was admittedly a pretty great family, and Naruto thought he'd feel as Sasuke did if someone forced him to share it. So he went out of his way to bug Sasuke, not to be a pest, but because Sasuke seemed to thrive on their fights, and so did Naruto. They would pummel each other until either Itachi broke them up, Mikoto threatened to make them eat Shima's cooking, or Hinata began to cry. And after every fight, Naruto would toss his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke would angrily shrug it off the first time. Only the second time he wouldn't, and that was what made Naruto realize they were brothers, even if they didn't share the same blood.

Hinata, however, was a different matter. Naruto knew that he liked her, but he could not explain that like in any satisfying way. It did not seem accurate enough to call her his sister or his friend, and yet she was both and sometimes neither in his mind. He had tried asking Mikoto for help, but she would only say that it was something he and Hinata had to work out for themselves. All she would contribute was that if he ever did anything to make Hinata cry, he would pay dearly for it. Naruto had already known that, because of the three of them, Hinata was clearly Itachi's favorite.

It still amazed him, how someone without demonic chakra to fall back on could be so strong, but Itachi managed it and made it look easy. Even better, Itachi had promised to train them once they were old enough. Naruto eagerly looked forward to that day, so he could become strong, too. His parents had been strong, and he wanted to be even stronger than them, so he could protect the people he cared about, and so he would never have to see a demon sealed into another child.

Mikoto had told them about the Nine Tails very early, perhaps too early. Hinata had been terrified at the very thought of a monster living inside of her, while Sasuke had just frowned. But Mikoto had followed this by telling them than an angel was sealed in them as well: the spirit of Naruto's own mother, Kushina. Every day that they drew breath, Kushina was engaging the demon in a never-ending battle to keep them safe. While Naruto did not like the idea of his mother locked in combat forever with a demon, it did make him feel a little better about not being able to see her. Mikoto had pictures of Naruto's parents, so he could at least see their faces whenever he wanted. Between that, Mikoto's warm smiles, and Hinata's warmer hugs, Naruto thought it was enough. He didn't have his parents, but he was well loved, and for the longest time his biggest problem was figuring out how to talk Sakura into marrying him one day. She was spending way too much time with Shikamaru lately, and Naruto feared that if he didn't do something soon, he'd lose her for good. It only made sense that Shikamaru was so lazy that he'd just reach out and grab the nearest girl, and he clearly had no interest in Ino.

The night before Naruto's eighth birthday, he fell asleep to dreams of Sakura, wedding bells, and a small army of little pink-haired girls playing at their feet. Suddenly, however, that dream was replaced by a large cave. At first glance, it seemed a great deal like the cave that Shino lived in. Naruto had only seen it from a distance himself. But unlike Shino's cave, this one was well-lit, and Naruto soon saw why: the cave opened up into a wider cavern, and there, chained down on a giant slab of rock, was the constantly thrashing form of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. His enormous, orange-furred body was giving off a sickly glow that seemed to alternate between crimson and fiery-orange every few seconds.

Naruto wasn't sure how long he'd been watching the demon when someone whispered directly into his ear, "Don't get too close."

He barely managed not to shriek as he spun around, only to find a smiling, taller girl with long, dark red hair doing her best not to laugh at him. He was about to yell at her for startling him (because he was startled, and definitely not scared) when the words died in his throat. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that he knew the girl from some of Mikoto's pictures. "Kaa-chan?" he breathed, hardly able to believe it. "Is it really you?"

Her smile widened. "Yes, Naruto," she replied, reaching out to ruffle his hair gently. "I'm your mother." The words were barely out of her mouth when Naruto flung himself at her, burying his head in her chest. She laughed softly and hugged him tight, kissing the top of his head. "I missed you, my little boy."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru had been sleeping peacefully in the grass, but his eyes opened as a bug landed on his arm. He tracked its progress to his palm, where it suddenly stopped moving entirely. Shikamaru curled his fingers slightly, and the bug was instantly consumed by a small ball of solid black chakra, which soon faded back into his hand.<p>

"Doesn't Shino mind when you do that?" Sakura asked from her spot next to him, half concerned and half curious.

"He minds," Shikamaru replied, flexing his fingers. "But the bugs aren't going to survive without him, anyway, and he's the one that keeps sending them. Besides, none of us speaks bug. This is the only way I can understand any of what they're saying: by absorbing them into my shadows."

Sakura made a somewhat interested noise. "And what's he say?"

"Chōji can call and dismiss the chakra shroud freely now. Kiba is close to doing the same. Hinata's still having the same trouble with her legs, but she hasn't worsened. Sasuke's got his Sharingan now. Naruto is the same as ever: nothing new to report."

Sakura frowned. "And Shino?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "No news is bad news. Of course, that's the only kind of news there ever is about him, so..."

"He's not going to last much longer, is he?"

"Don't think so. If Shizune hasn't found anything yet, there probably isn't anything to be done."

Neither of them spoke for a moment, silently considering the fate of their brother and friend.

"Then what happens when he's gone?" Sakura finally asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I told you before, I don't know. And I'm not the one you should be asking. There's only two sources that would even be close to qualified to answer that question. Lucky for us, we have easy access to both."

Sakura sighed. "I've asked her already. Kushina-sama won't talk."

"Can't talk or won't talk?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes narrowing.

She shrugged. "Either. Both. I'm not sure. But even if she could tell me, I don't think she would. She's so busy trying to be my mother that she won't agree to be my informant."

He grunted. "Then that only leaves source number two."

"Looks like it." Sakura looked over at him and extended her hand. "Ready?"

"Guess so," Shikamaru sighed, sitting up. "Do we really have to do this every time?"

"You know how he gets if we don't. And we want him to talk. He may be our only chance, unless you want to depend on Naruto for this."

He made a face. "No way." Shikamaru reached over and grasped her hand. "I've got the bottom." Shadows poured from his feet like water onto the grass, quickly surrounding them in a spreading pool of darkness.

"And I'll do the rest," Sakura replied, her emerald eyes darkening to blood red. At once, the sky was robbed of all light, and towering over them was the massive form of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

"So, my feeble little jailers," the fox almost purred, his lips drawing away from his sharp teeth in an enormous grin. "You wanted to talk?"

Shikamaru glanced at Sakura, whose breathing had become heavier and slower. Obviously the genjutsu was taking its toll on her, so she wouldn't be doing any talking anytime soon. In other words, this was really going to be a major pain: he hated talking to the fox. It clearly preferred Sakura of the two of them. Licking his lips, Shikamaru raised his head and stared into the giant red eyes. "What happens when one of us dies?"

The answer was a chuckle that seemed to shake the ground. "I take it you mean other than your flimsy fleshbags rotting?"

Shikamaru frowned. "Yeah, other than that. Specifically, what happens to you?"

"An interesting question," the demon admitted, "but one I no longer have the answer to. Were I unsealed, I could tell you exactly how I would go about corrupting your weak little bodies with my influence until I once again roamed the land in all my former glory. And if you're coming to me for the answer, that means you couldn't get it from the blasted woman who put us all in this miserable situation." He paused, as if thinking, and smirked. "I suppose we could just wait for your beloved bug boy to expire and find out what happens together."

"So there's no chance of any part of you being freed when he dies?" Shikamaru asked. Based on the way the fox froze at once and the air seemed to grow heavier, he knew that he'd said the wrong thing.

"Free," the demon whispered in a rapidly growing rumble. "Well, let me ask you something, you insignifigant little gnat: if someone ripped your body and soul into pieces, stuffed those pieces into separate boxes to rot for a while, and then suddenly overturned only one box, WOULD YOU BE FREE?!"

"So that's a no," Shikamaru muttered, wiping the fox's spittle from his face. "I thought it was weird that you didn't seem happier about Shino's condition. But it doesn't really gain you anything in the end."

"I wouldn't go that far, brat. One less container means only eight more to go. And I've got news for you: one thing I do know about these seals is that they were only meant to function in this world. So the moment you pass into any other, including the afterlife, all bets are off."

Shikamaru immediately pulled his hand away from Sakura's, allowing the genjutsu to collapse under its own weight. The fox's final words stayed with him, though.

It was more than Shikamaru had expected to learn, but also what he'd more or less suspected: the seals wouldn't hold forever. And from what the fox hadn't said, Shikamaru strongly suspected that one less container still meant it would be that much easier for the fox to focus all of his hatred on the rest of them. It was too much to hope that Shino's portion of the fox would simply fade into nothingness. If the container's death was really all it would have taken to stop the fox, Shikamaru was certain Konoha would have sealed the fox into a kid in one breath, and then cut the kid's head off with the next. But their lives had never been so simple.

Sighing, Shikamaru turned to Sakura, only to find her staring straight ahead. Though her breathing was normal now, her eyes were still blood red. "Sakura?" he asked uncertainly.

She did not respond, and there was no recognition in her eyes.

"Answer me or I'll make you regret it," Shikamaru warned.

Still nothing.

"Okay, you asked for it." Shikamaru created a shadow clone and laid a very convincing henge of Naruto over it. "Do it," he ordered.

The Naruto clone grinned as it approached Sakura. "I get Sakura-chan's first kiss!" the clone giggled as it leaned in-

-and got punched in the face by Sakura, whose eyes were emerald once again. "NOT funny, Shikamaru!" she snapped as the clone hit the ground and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Shikamaru stared at her blankly. "If you're waiting for an apology, you won't get one. I warned you what would happen if you didn't answer me. Did you even hear any of what the fox said?"

"Every word," Sakura muttered.

"And you also heard me warn you," he added.

"...yeah," she answered hesitantly. "But I couldn't really... talk just then."

Shikamaru leaned over and seized her shoulders. "Was it the fox? Was he keeping you under?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, I know what that feels like. This wasn't him."

"Then what was it?" he demanded.

"I don't know. I could hear you, but that was it. It's like I was... in a room, and you were outside. And I didn't want to leave the room, even though I knew I had to."

"What was in the room, Sakura?"

"Just a mirror."

Shikamaru blinked. "So you were in a room, looking at yourself in a mirror."

"No. Not me. I wasn't the one in the mirror. It was someone else. Another girl."

"And who was she?"

"...I don't know," Sakura whispered.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Great. Well, we can worry about that later. Right now, you need to talk to Ino."

Sakura glared at him. "What? Why?"

"Because we're already going to lose Shino, and I don't want to lose her, too. That's why."

"What are you talking about, Shikamaru? Ino isn't sick."

He stared at her. "No, she isn't. But would you even notice if she was?"

"...probably not," Sakura admitted. "But why do I have to talk you her? You could-"

"Ino only listens to Naruto. He isn't here, but he thinks the world of you. Ino will listen to you."

"But I don't want-"

"Sakura," Shikamaru interrupted, squeezing her shoulders hard. "I need you to do this for me. It's important, okay?"

"...fine. But later on, you tell me why I had to deal with the pig, okay?"

He nodded and turned away, waiting until Sakura's footsteps had faded before releasing the deep breath he'd been holding in. He would have to make up some excuse for Sakura later, he decided. The truth would hurt too much: that Ino was already a lost cause. Shikamaru blamed himself. He had been so focused on all the others, so dependent on Shino's information gathering that he hadn't really noticed the problem growing right next to him. Shikamaru had always thought that Ino would grow into her power the way the others had, that as a Yamanaka she would be able to wrest control of her mind back. Instead, she had wilted, and the garden of her mind had been filled with weeds and choked of all life. Now instead of just one fellow jinchūriki, they stood to lose two. And Shikamaru didn't even want to think about what kind of advantage that would give the fox.

* * *

><p>It took a few tries, but Kushina finally managed to get Naruto to release her, though by tickling him mercilessly. She found it curious, yet fitting, that he was ticklish in many of the same places that Minato had been. "You really do have a short attention span, Naruto," she giggled as he crawled toward her, trying to get his breathing under control. "But I guess that's another bad habit you get from me, huh?"<p>

Naruto instantly jumped up and narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, kaa-chan?" he demanded fiercely. "You don't have any bad habits! You're the greatest mom ever!"

Kushina blinked in surprise, then smiled softly. "Thank you for saying that." She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "But I have plenty of bad habits. You just haven't known me long enough to know what they are."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, paused, and frowned.

She nodded. "What is it? What do you want to ask me?"

"Kaa-chan... if you were here all along, then... how come you didn't let me see you before? All this time I've been missing you, and you... didn't come."

Sighing, Kushina stepped forward and hugged him, kissing his head again. "I'm sorry, baby. I wanted to be with you, I really did. But..." She sighed again. "It feels real, doesn't it?"

Naruto blinked. "What does?"

"Naruto, when I told you I was your mother, that was true. But what I should have said was, I'm what's left of your mother. I'm a small piece of her. Chakra, memory fragments, and willpower. That's all I am: a chakra construct. I can only exist in here, and my power supply is limited. If I had come to you every day like I wanted to, all my power would have been used up while you were still too young to remember me. I know it was a long time, but I had to wait. The things I have to tell you had to wait, until you were old enough to understand and remember them."

Naruto looked past her to the chained-down fox, who was still struggling. "But... he's not a chakra construct."

"Oh, but he is," Kushina replied. "And the worst kind: one with a near infinite power supply, and all too capable of existing outside of you. That's part of why I brought you here, Naruto. All this time I've been protecting you the best I can. Now I need to teach you how to protect yourself from him. And not just you. When we're done, you'll be able to help the other children, too. Your father and I gave you a strong body. That's your armor. As a last resort, you can also tap into the demon's power. That's your sword. But I want you to be able protect the things that are important to you. For that, you'll need a shield. So I'm going to give you mine. You can think of it as me making up for all those birthdays I missed."

"But you didn't miss them," Naruto insisted. "Mikoto-san always set an extra place at the table, and put a picture of you there. She did that for Hinata, too."

Kushina grinned at the thought. "I knew I could count on Mikoto. You like her, then?"

Naruto nodded. "She's really nice. Not as great as you, but a decent second, anyway."

Kushina laughed. "Well, do me a favor and never tell her that. So, you ready to learn your mother's signature jutsu, Naruto?"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered eagerly. "I bet it's way cooler than spitting fire or poking people a bunch of times, right?"

"Um, sure, but I don't want you underestimating the Uchiha or the Hyūga because of that, okay?"

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi and Jiraiya returned to Mount Myōboku in a burst of smoke, only to find themselves in the midst of a flurry of activity. Toads were hopping past them with unusual speed in all directions, most of them clearly frantic.<p>

Jiraiya snatched a small, green toad out of thin air. "What's going on?" he demanded. "Are we under attack?"

"It's horrible, just horrible!" the toad wailed. "Naruto-chan has has vanished from his bed! We can't find him anywhere!"

The blood drained from Jiraiya's face. "Kid," he barked at Itachi, "go get the details from your mother. And while you're at it, make sure the other two haven't up and vanished, either."

Itachi didn't even bother to nod, vanishing from the spot with a shunshin. He reached his mother's house in seconds, and was greatly relieved to find Sasuke and Hinata on the front porch. Hinata's face was buried in her hands as she sobbed, and Sasuke was awkwardly rubbing her back when Itachi touched down in front of them. "Sasuke," Itachi said, drawing his little brother's attention, "status report."

Sasuke's eyes widened, clearly not having expected his brother to return so soon, but quickly remembered himself. "Hinata woke up around midnight and thought something was wrong. She inspected the house with her Byakugan and found that Naruto was missing from his room, then alerted Gamashiro, who alerted the toads guarding the house. None of them saw anyone enter or leave the house last night. We searched the house from top to bottom, and the toads are searching the entire mountain." Sasuke paused, then added uneasily, "Nii-san, Hinata was helping them, but she overused her Byakugan and ran out of... normal chakra. Kaa-san wouldn't let her do any more."

Itachi frowned, taking in the obvious implication that Hinata had either tried to take a food pill without permission, or attempted to tap into the demon's chakra. Honestly, he wasn't sure which was worse: that she would risk harming herself for Naruto's sake, or what being forbbiden to help any further might do to her emotionally. He knelt down and placed a hand on her head. "You've done your part, Hinata. Now let me do mine."

Hinata hiccuped and raised her red, watery eyes to his face. "Itachi nii-san, you have to find him! What if poor Naruto is hurt? What if he's dead?"

Itachi didn't miss the way Sasuke stiffened. Clearly, he hadn't yet considered something so serious. "I don't think he's hurt or dead, Hinata. This mountain is practically impossible for anyone unknown to the toads to reach, and the signs point more to Naruto leaving on his own. If that's the case, I doubt he went very far. He knows better than anyone what the penalty for wandering off is." It was, quite simply, being tied to Mikoto's waist by a length of wire for twenty-four hours straight. While it required a relaxing of Mikoto's usual rules of hygiene (in her mind, being home on time trumped being clean), Naruto had suffered through this particular punishment on at least seven different occasions. Not because he'd been trying to run away, but because he found the mountain so fascinating and always wanted to explore it, whether he had the required adult supervision or not.

Still, when they did find Naruto, Itachi had a far worse punishment in mind: no ramen for a year. Anyone who made Hinata cry should consider themselves lucky to escape with their lives, and Naruto was no exception.

Fortunately, Itachi had not spent roughly five years as Jiraiya's apprentice without gaining some of his own resources. Already he was evaluating two in particular that Jiraiya himself didn't have access to. However, using either would force Itachi to expose secrets that he was not yet ready to give up. Besides, there was yet another way.

"Have Enma and Katsuyu been informed?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded. "They're already searching their territories."

Itachi shook his head. "No, Naruto would need assistance visiting either of them. He's still on the mountain. We just need to figure out where." He turned away and raised his voice. "Gamashiro!"

Hinata's ever-present guardian toad instantly dropped from the roof, landing at her side with barely a sound. Sensing his presence, Hinata immediately clung to him, and he smoothed her hair a few times before turning his attention to Itachi.

"I need you to send word to Enma and Katsuyu," Itachi instructed. "Tell them I have an idea on how to find Naruto, but I'll need Kiba and Sakura here to do it."

Gamashiro nodded, and with a farewell pat to Hinata's head, jumped straight into the air and vanished from view.

Sasuke was frowning as Itachi sat down beside Hinata and put his arm around her shoulders. "What can Kiba and Sakura do that we can't?"

"I need Kiba's nose and Sakura's genjutsu talent," Itachi explained patiently. "You have neither, Sasuke. However, this incident provides me with a good excuse to begin your training in earnest. If Naruto insists on walking off like this, he needs to be able to defend himself. Once I'm done punishing him, your first lesson will be leaving a note when you leave the house."

Just over twenty minutes later, Kiba and Sakura ran up with Jiraiya on their heels. Kiba immediately began sniffing in the direction of the house, and Sakura knelt down to gently hug Hinata.

"So what's this idea of yours, kid?" Jiraiya asked Itachi. "The Inuzuka I can understand, but how do you expect to use genjutsu to find Naruto? He's lost enough as it is."

"Sakura-chan," Itachi said, getting her attention, "I need you to produce a genjutsu that overrides all of Kiba's senses, except his nose."

Kiba scowled, not liking to be restrained in any way. "What good will that do?"

"Our current problem is that we cannot focus our search, so we're wasting time sweeping the entire mountain. Kiba-kun, I need you to search for two types of scents. You've been here before, and you know Naruto's scent. So you're looking for him, as well as any scent that you either do not recognize, or recognize as being out of place here."

"I don't think that-" Kiba began.

"Ready," Sakura interrupted, forming and holding a rat hand seal.

He frowned at her. "Don't I get a vote in this?"

"Please, Kiba-kun," Hinata whispered.

Kiba grunted. "Go ahead, Sakura."

Sakura murmured something under her breath as she tapped Kiba's nose with two fingers. Kiba's eyes drifted shut and his body sagged slightly, but his nose began to sniff rather loudly and rapidly, trying to compensate for the loss of all his other senses.

"There's a scent that doesn't belong," Kiba reported at once. "Human. Female. Extremely powerful chakra. Carrying something... metallic? Lots of it, too."

Itachi nodded. "Bring him out, Sakura-chan."

Sakura tapped Kiba's nose again, and his eyes snapped open.

"Can you track the scent?" Itachi asked. "Or do you need to go back under?"

Kiba snorted. "You kidding? Can't imagine how I missed it the first time. Chakra this strong I can smell a mile away."

Itachi nodded. "And you don't smell Naruto," he added, in a tone someone who didn't know him might have mistaken as genuinely casual.

Kiba blinked. "Well, sure I do, he lives here. But nothing so recent."

"And just to be clear, Kiba: you're classifying this as a scent that doesn't belong. Not one you don't recognize."

Kiba froze, his mouth hanging open. "...yeah. But I don't know where I know it from. Weird."

"Maybe not. Track the female scent."

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Naruto was found. He was unconscious and suspended, upside-down in a ravine, by over thirty feet of steel chain, which appeared to have been driven into the sides with great force, and then wrapped snugly around his body. Oddly, there was not a single mark on Naruto that would suggest the position had harmed him, despite the fact that he had been there for several hours. Nor could Kiba explain why the matching scent produced by both Naruto and the chakra embedded in the chains still identified themselves, at least to his nose, as being female. But no one was inclined to believe that Kiba was lying or mistaken. Because not one person there could explain why that scent clung most strongly to Naruto's hair, which, despite having been blond all of his life, was suddenly and inexplicably the same deep red as his mother's.

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 6: Partners and Sensei<strong>

As the children begin their training in earnest, bonds are reinforced, and problems come to light. Hinata's condition works against her, as does Itachi's hesitance to train her as he does the boys. Fortunately, Itachi is not the only Uchiha suitable for teaching.


	7. Partners and Sensei

Notes: This chapter was running a bit long, so I decided to cut it in half.

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><p><strong>Senjutsu for the Soul<strong>

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 6: Partners and Sensei**

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><p>Naruto woke up in Hinata's bed, with her snuggled up to his side, and her arm draped over his chest. This was only alarming because he could not recall how he'd gotten there. He remembered falling asleep in his own bed, then dreaming of meeting his mother, and seeing the fox. It had seemed so real at the time, but now...<p>

Curious, he raised his right hand (the one that wasn't trapped under Hinata) and tried to mold his chakra into the shape of a chain. If it worked, he would accept that the dream had been real. If it didn't, then it had only been the desperate dream of a boy who simply missed his mother.

Several fruitless minutes later, Naruto scowled, glaring at his finger as if it had betrayed him. In the dream, his mother had done it so easily. And so had he, after a while. But it seemed he'd forgotten how. Or it hadn't really happened. Muttering a curse, he pointed at the bedroom door, trying to produce... well, anything.

The door opened unexpectedly.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke said as he walked in, and barely threw himself aside in time as a chain as wide around as his head erupted from Naruto's extended finger, smashed through the spot on the door where Sasuke's head had been an instant earlier, and kept going, if the following ridiculously loud and destructive noises were any indicator.

Anyone else might have been furious at nearly being killed. But Sasuke just sat on the floor, a megawatt grin spreading slowly across his face, just before his mother and brother burst into the room seconds later. He merely looked up at them, and said quite simply and honestly, but with unmistakable joy in his tone, "Naruto did it."

Perhaps the only thing that saved Naruto from Mikoto's immediate wrath was that Hinata was still asleep and still attached to him, a fact that he intended to use to his full advantage in the coming moments.

* * *

><p>Inuzuka Kiba took a deep, shuddering breath as he picked himself up off the ground, only to watch Akimichi Chōji, his brother in every way but blood, slam into the ground in front of him, bloodied and broken.<p>

"Not entirely pathetic," Enma said, crossing his massive arms over his chest. "But nowhere near good enough. Again, brats."

Kiba spat blood and teeth, and spared Chōji a glance. Just as he'd suspected, Chōji's eyes were blood red, a clear indicator of the demonic chakra rushing through both of their bodies. It was the only thing keeping them in one piece and standing, frankly. But for the first time, it hadn't made a bit of difference offensively.

Enma was strong, horribly strong. They'd both known that going in. What they hadn't known was that he was so much stronger than them, their tainted chakra had no visible effect on him. And they had thrown plenty of it at him in many wasted efforts. Kiba figured it out first and began conserving the demonic chakra solely for healing. The only problem with that was that without a chakra shroud to cushion Enma's blows, they hurt a lot worse.

Chōji had it worst, though: he had been the first of them to maintain a chakra shroud under battle conditions, and so Enma naturally expected more of him. So did Kiba, frankly, because Chōji had been the one to teach him. But where Kiba had his claws, Chōji only had his fists, and it was clear that he wasn't going to hurt Enma that way. And since the goal here was to make Enma bleed, Kiba supposedly had the advantage. On the other hand, since Chōji had been accustomed to his chakra shroud longer, he could use it a lot more effectively on the defensive front. Aside from that, his big, sturdy body was practically built to take more punishment, or so Enma believed.

Kiba, for one, was tired of getting hit. "Got my back, fatty?" he growled out of the side of his mouth.

"Better than having your front, dog breath," Chōji grunted, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

They shared at quick glance, and then Kiba dove at Chōji, who grabbed him by one arm, spun around, and hurled Kiba as hard as he could at Enma. Kiba sailed toward the monkey king with claws extended, fully expecting and accepting what was about to happen.

"Not too smart, brat," Enma chuckled, and then his giant fist plowed into Kiba's face.

This was part of the plan, if it could be called that. Kiba was supposed to go down, and Enma was not supposed to notice that Kiba had been short one clawed fingernail, which was now stashed in Chōji's armband. Chōji was supposed to use Kiba's distraction to charge in, and once Enma reached out to attack him, Chōji would tag him with the hidden claw.

The only real problem was that Enma had apparently tired of the game, too, because this hit was much harder than any other. Instead of just seeing stars, Kiba suddenly saw nothing at all, and was out cold long before he crashed into the ground again.

When Kiba woke up minutes later, the first thing he heard was howling of the human variety. His first thought was that his sister Hana had found him broken on the ground, lost her mind, and tried to attack Enma. Then he rolled over and got the shock of his life: Chōji had lost his mind instead.

Chōji, enlarged to the size of small building, was pounding his door-sized fists against every part of Enma he could reach. Even if this wasn't exactly hurting Enma, he had to be feeling it.

And still he wasn't bleeding.

Kiba wanted to help, but as he drew on the demonic chakra yet again, his vision was briefly clouded by a blood-red haze. He knew what that meant: he had used too much. Any more and the fox might take him over, however briefly. And if that happened, he'd be more likely to attack them both instead of just Enma. So Chōji was on his own.

The fight didn't last much longer. When Chōji began to tire and slow down, Enma went on the attack. To Kiba's shock, Chōji blocked the first punch with his forearm. Enma's punches were sledgehammers. Nobody blocked them. But Chōji managed to block twice more with the same arm before Kiba heard a loud, gruesome crack, and Chōji went down, cradling his broken arm and sobbing in pain.

Enma shook his head and walked off without a word. They had failed.

Chōji didn't shrink down to normal size right away, and Kiba guessed that doing that with broken bones was tricky business. Instead, Chōji surrounded just his arm with a chakra shroud to speed the healing along. Although considering his arm was longer than most men were tall, that was still quite a feat of chakra control.

"We'll get him next time, buddy," Kiba promised, and Chōji managed a smile that was more of a grimace. Inwardly, though, Kiba blamed himself. Chōji had only lost control because he saw Kiba get hurt bad, and Kiba only got hurt bad because he hadn't been able to come up with a decent strategy. That had always been Shino's area of expertise, but bothering him for advice on beating Enma was a supremely bad idea. And Shino wouldn't be around forever for them to fall back on. They needed to think for themselves. That meant no depending on Shikamaru, either.

Once Chōji's arm was in reasonable condition, he decreased his size, but kept enough extra mass on him so that he could carry Kiba back to the cave without much trouble. Shizune and Hana came running out to meet them, and for once, Kiba didn't have the strength to stop them from fussing over his wounds. Shizune spent a minute or two checking Chōji's arm, then shifted her attention to Kiba. She made a small, unhappy noise when she noticed he was missing a fingernail, but ignored it so she could focus on the more serious injuries. As usual, Hana said nothing, merely staring at his wounds.

Kiba licked his dry lips. "Nee-chan?" he asked wearily.

Hana blinked and forced herself to smile for him. "Yeah, Kiba?"

"I need a dog," he stated firmly.

Hana didn't speak at first, and Kiba knew why. Communications with the Inuzuka clan were... strained at best, for the two of them. Though that was true of nearly all nine children with their respective families. Hana and Shizune did take turns returning to the village to stock up on supplies, but Kiba got the strong impression that Hana looked forward to those trips less and less. She didn't want to go home, and for an Inuzuka, the only reasons not to go home were if it was no longer there, or if they were no longer welcome.

"Okay then," Hana said after a moment, gently ruffling his hair. "I'll get you a dog. Hey, if I'm lucky, I might get everyone a dog."

* * *

><p>Mikoto did not punish Naruto for wrecking the house, not really. It had genuinely been an accident, although he knew better than to use any jutsu in the house, and certainly not an untested one (practice within dreams didn't count). But combined with the fact that he'd apparently gone missing a few hours earlier, everyone was naturally still stuck in panic mode, and his continued "bad behavior" wasn't helping things any. That, he could appreciate (even though Naruto felt the only child who was really guilty of it was Sasuke, who went out of his way to be a jerk; Naruto just happened into it occasionally when he got excited).<p>

But Mikoto's patience had worn thin, especially since Naruto could not really explain why his hair had been red when he'd been found in the ravine, or why it had gone back to its natural color while he was asleep in Hinata's room. Naruto hadn't even known until Jiraiya showed him some pictures, but all this really told Naruto was that he'd make a decent-looking redhead if he ever got he urge. At any rate, he hadn't been at all concerned: he trusted his mother completely, and if she wanted his hair to be like hers for a while, he was all too happy to oblige her.

It was only when Itachi pulled Naruto aside and told him, with barely restrained fury, that Mikoto had suffered a panic attack while Naruto had been missing, that the guilt began to set in. Naruto had always known, on some level, that Mikoto cared for him as if he were her one of her own sons. She had always treated him well, and while Naruto was thankful for that, some small part of him had assumed that Mikoto was doing this mainly out of a sense of responsibility to his mother (he'd heard several stories about people who made the mistake of earning the wrath of Uzumaki Kushina). But this was the first time it had ever occurred to him that Mikoto actually loved him and worried for him the way his mother would have, had she been there. The very idea that he'd done that to Mikoto, who had always seemed so steady and resilient, was quite sobering. Naruto had gone straight to Mikoto and begged her forgiveness, which she had given faster than he'd expected. But it had come with a condition, and if Naruto had not trusted her so much, he might have suspected that she had suckered him right into it.

That was how Naruto ended up back in his room, but with the very unwelcome presence of a young, smart-mouthed orange toad named Gamakichi. Naruto was now under strict orders not to go anywhere without the toad, which would have seemed completely unfair, except that Hinata already had Gamashiro, and Sasuke got stuck with Gamatatsu, Gamakichi's slow-witted and forever hungry brother, which hadn't pleased the young Uchiha at all. Compared to that, Naruto figured he'd lucked out, although if it hadn't meant taking Hinata's friend away, he would have much preferred Gamashiro's company. At least he was quiet. Gamakichi, on the other hand, had helped search for Naruto and was still sore about the sleep he'd missed out on because of it. Naruto had to remind himself several times that Gamakichi was one of Gamabunta's kids, and so squashing him probably wasn't allowed. And Gamakichi was small enough where he could fit easily into a pocket, so if nothing else, Naruto didn't actually have to physically carry him. But that also meant that Naruto tended to forget the toad was even around, which had probably been the intent all along.

* * *

><p>Today, surely, she thought. Today he would say yes.<p>

Even though he never had before.

Every morning, without fail, Itachi was the first out of bed, if he ever slept at all. He would wait exactly one hour before waking Sasuke and Naruto, and then the three of them would leave for ninja training.

Hinata was never ordered to come, or even invited. The boys were always long gone by the time Mikoto came to wake her, and even when Hinata purposely woke up early in hopes of being taken along, Itachi always kissed the center of her forehead and said the same thing.

"Not today, Hinata. Some other time."

Only that time was beginning to seem like it would never come. Itachi had taught her many things, though. But none of those things required her to go more than a few feet from the house. None of those things would help her catch up with the progress that her brothers were surely making without her. She feared, more than anything else, being left behind. They all loved her, that much was obvious. But you could only drag dead weight around for so long before it finally made more sense to get rid of it.

Like clockwork, a few minutes later, Itachi emerged from the bedroom that he had shared with Hinata since she was a baby. Hinata was aware that some might consider the arrangement inappropriate, but she did not. She thought of Itachi as her parent, and he had been acting as such for longer than she could remember. Really, she figured it was silly to be self conscious around someone who had bathed her back when she had nothing worth peeking at. And if anyone would be familiar with her body and how it had changed over the years, it would be Itachi.

"You're up early," Itachi noted as he walked into the kitchen.

"I want to start training with Sasuke and Naruto today, Itachi nii-san," Hinata announced.

To his credit, Itachi did not even pause as he began his daily routine. First on the list was making some sort of energy drink that smelled horrible and tasted worse. Sasuke and Naruto chugged it down every day without complaint, for the simple reason that it actually got worse if Itachi added anything for flavor, which he did solely to punish them as needed.

"We've talked about this, Hinata," he said at last, his tone one of infinite patience.

"I want to talk about it again," she insisted.

Itachi closed his eyes briefly before turning to face her. He looked upset, though not in the way she'd been expecting. Wordlessly, he extended his arm, and she went to him, allowing him to drape it around her shoulders.

"What I am about to say will hurt you, Hinata," he murmured. "But I do it only because you are my beloved child."

She nodded, bracing herself mentally and leaning against him.

"You were born premature. However, the specific conditions of your birth had, and likely will always have, considerable and lasting impact on your growth. You will never be as strong as Sasuke or Naruto. Not because you are a girl, but because of these conditions. If I demanded from you what I demand from them every day, it would be beyond inhumane. I would never do that to one I love so dearly. So please, do not ask me to."

"What about the trail?" Hinata asked at once. "Can't I at least do that?"

Itachi frowned. "The trail runs around the entire mountain. Even the boys do not run the full length."

"I know, they take the shortcut through the forest. But I can at least do that, can't I?"

"No, Hinata. We both know that your legs do not perform well under stress."

"You make the boys do three laps. Couldn't I just do one? Just for today?"

"Hinata..."

"Please?"

He didn't look like he would give in, at first. But then he gave her the first glass of his energy drink.

Hinata chugged it down, barely tasting it. It was better that way, the boys insisted, and Hinata now agreed with them.

"There are conditions," Itachi said.

She'd expected as much. "Okay."

"You must take Gamashiro with you. You will feel tired, but if you feel you cannot go on, you must tell someone right away. Under no circumstances are you to attempt more than one lap."

"But I can go?" Hinata asked eagerly.

"Sasuke is the fastest. Naruto can run the longest. Sasuke always passes Naruto at least once. Naruto will pass you twice. If he finishes before you, I'm sending him back to get you. If that happens, you go with him, without complaint. Understood?"

"Understood. So I can go?"

"...yes," Itachi said at last. "Don't make me regret this, Hinata. I'm trusting you to know when you can't go on. Don't abuse my trust, and don't abuse yourself. There is a firm line between hard training and senselessly punishing your body. Don't cross it."

Hinata nodded, beaming at him.

He sighed, shaking his head as he prepared three more glasses. "Get ready. Once the boys have eaten, we'll go."

* * *

><p>Naruto was used to coming in second. That part didn't bother him so much. He knew if push came to shove, he could run harder and longer than Sasuke ever could. Itachi always told them that while Sasuke's body was built for speed, Naruto's was built for stamina. Sasuke liked to think that coming in first every time made him the winner. Naruto liked to think that if they ever had to run four or more laps instead, there would be a new winner.<p>

Hinata never went with them.

At first, Naruto had not understood this. At the time, he'd greatly preferred Hinata's company to Sasuke's. Hinata was nice, smelled better, and didn't hit him when she didn't get her way.

Itachi had finally explained that Hinata simply did not have the leg strength to do what they did every day, which had made perfect sense. More than once Hinata had tired just from walking around the house during the course of a day, and sometimes she caught fevers that left her in bed for days. She always got better eventually, but she had never been the most active child, and it showed. Many times while Sasuke and Naruto played outside, Naruto would notice Hinata watching from the window. Sometimes she took meals in her room because she didn't have the strength to make it to the kitchen, and she hated being carried by anyone, even Itachi. And while Naruto had been taught to never admit it, Mikoto constantly asked him to look out for Hinata, especially if she seemed to be having trouble with something.

It hadn't been a big deal to him. Naruto figured since he was older than Hinata, he was supposed to look out for her, and she was supposed to be smaller than him. It was some time before he began to realize that Hinata was usually sickly to some degree: occasionally her milky skin was paler than normal, or she would have to stop and catch her breath doing something as minimal as walking, or her cheeks would become flushed for no good reason at all. At times, she would simply faint without warning, and Naruto had gotten pretty good at diving and catching her before she could bump her head in a fall.

So when Itachi announced that Hinata would be joining them for training that morning, Naruto had thought it was a joke. But then Hinata had shown up with Gamashiro at her side. Naruto could not deny that she looked eager to get started, but he remembered looking the same way for his first lap. It tended to fade pretty quickly.

Sasuke glanced at Hinata, but said nothing. This was good as far as Naruto was concerned. Sasuke had never really gotten used to Hinata. Naruto wasn't sure if it was because they had different eye-based abilities, or if there was some rivalry between their clans, but couldn't imagine what Hinata might have done to get on Sasuke's bad side. Although, the list of people on Sasuke's good side was limited to about two names on a good day, and Naruto didn't see it getting any longer in the near future.

Itachi gave the signal, and they started to run. Naruto knew that Itachi would wait until they were out of sight before sending out Kage Bunshin to watch their progress.

As usual, Sasuke quickly took the lead, and didn't slow down until he had a comfortable distance between he and Naruto. Sasuke didn't like to look weak in front of anyone. Besides, Naruto knew that even if he managed to pass Sasuke and take the lead, he wouldn't be able to hold onto it, so he didn't bother. As expected, Hinata soon fell behind. Naruto briefly considered slowing down so he could keep an eye on her, but decided against it. Hinata hated to be pitied, and if she was running laps, she had something to prove to somebody, and he didn't want to get in the way of that. So he only glanced over his shoulder at her and waved. She smiled and waved back, and that was the last Naruto saw of her for some time.

Eventually, he lost sight of Sasuke as well, which was normal.

By the time Naruto passed by Itachi at the starting point, signifying his first complete lap, he couldn't help feeling a little worried about Hinata. He hadn't expected her to catch up, and he knew Gamashiro was with her, but he was certain that she had never run this long in her entire life. And sure enough, when Naruto finally spotted her during his second lap, she had sat down on the side of the trail to catch her breath. Gamashiro was at her side, and he didn't look worried. That was a good sign, at least. Naruto already knew he was going to stop, and from the wary look in Hinata's eyes, so did she.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto said as he jogged up to her. "Seen Sasuke?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

She nodded. "He passed a while ago."

"Thought so." He paused. "Uh, you okay?"

"Fine, Naruto. Thank you for asking." She sounded slightly annoyed.

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna get back to running. Sasuke's horrible when he wins by too much."

She smiled, but it was strained. "I can imagine. Good luck, Naruto."

"Same to you." He waved at her, nodded to Gamashiro, and ran off.

Naruto ran for a few minutes, then made a Kage Bunshin and instructed it to cut through the forest, so it could come up on Hinata unnoticed. He figured that if she was as tired as she looked, she wouldn't be able to use her Byakugan for very long, either, so she probably wouldn't see him. Satisfied, he went back to running.

Sasuke passed him a few minutes later, looking smug as ever. Naruto ignored him.

Itachi and Sasuke were in Naruto's sight at the starting point when the Kage Bunshin's memories suddenly flowed into his head.

Hinata had eventually started running again, but she tired faster than before, yet refused to stop. She eventually collapsed, not unconscious, but too tired to pick herself up. She refused Gamashiro's offers to help her up, and just laid on the trail, totally helpless.

Sasuke ran past minutes later without even looking at her.

Naruto couldn't remember a time when he'd been so angry. He ran past the Uchiha brothers without a word, immediately cutting through the forest.

When Naruto crashed out of the forest and landed in front of Hinata and Gamashiro, she had at least gotten up to all fours, but was shaking pretty badly. He reached for her, and she smacked his hand away with a surprising bit of strength. Naruto saw at once that she was crying out of sheer frustration. At least, he hoped it was that, and not pain or embarrasment. "Hinata," he said gently.

"No!" she snapped, shaking her head. "I don't need or want help!"

"Fine. But if you really think I'd go home to Mikoto-san without you, or that she would even let me back into the house, then you must have some serious genjutsu on you right now."

"I can make it on my own!" Hinata cried.

"Okay. Then I'll walk with you when you do." Naruto sat down right there on the trail and waited. And if he left his bottled water out accidentally, then Hinata accidentally gulped it down, too.

After an hour, she had stopped shaking, but still seemed to be in no hurry to leave.

"Can I ask you something?" he murmured.

Hinata closed her eyes. "What, Naruto?"

"Why do you cry when Sasuke and I fight?"

"Because I care about you both and don't want you to fight each other. I don't like seeing you hurt."

"So it's like instinct? You couldn't stop, even if you wanted to?"

Hinata opened her eyes. "I don't think I could."

"Okay. Then you have to understand something about me." Naruto reached over and took her hand in his. "I get that you don't like us helping you. I can respect that, even if I don't like it. But seeing you like this? It doesn't just hurt me. It kills me, Hinata. When I see you struggling and know you won't let me help you, I feel like I can't breathe and I'm going to die slowly. So if you won't let me help you for your sake, then let me do it for mine."

Hinata didn't say anything. But she allowed Naruto to pull her onto his back, and obediently locked her arms around his neck when he asked her to. After the first step, she began to sniffle, and by the time he got her back to Itachi, she was bawling like her heart was broken. Naruto tried to explain that she was okay, but wasn't sure Itachi heard him over Hinata's crying. Actually, he wasn't sure Itachi would have heard anything even if she had been quiet. He tended to block everything else out when Hinata was crying, save for getting her to stop and then brutalizing the source of her tears. Naruto knew that Itachi would never strike him or Sasuke without a reason, but if either of them ever made Hinata cry, he would drag them behind the house and beat them bloody, and with Mikoto's blessing. Naruto fully expected this treatment once Hinata explained why she was crying, but figured it was better than just leaving her on the trail until someone came looking for them.

And sure enough, once Hinata was resting in her room, Itachi motioned for Naruto to follow him into the backyard. Naruto sighed and followed him without complaint.

"Hinata was crying," Itachi said. "She told me why."

Naruto nodded and braced himself for the first blow. It never came.

"She said she was crying because she is weak," Itachi continued. "I cannot blame anyone else for that."

"So... you're not going to beat me?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Do you feel you made Hinata cry?" Itachi replied.

"Yes," Naruto answered honestly. "She cried because I told her how much I cared about her. It was the only thing I could think of to make her let me help her."

Itachi nodded slowly. "Do you think she was lying to me?"

"No, I think she really believes that she's weak. But I also think she didn't want me to get in trouble."

"Then do you think I should beat you?"

"Only if you think it was wrong of me to do what I did. This is supposed to be punishment, right? So if I did anything wrong today, then go ahead."

Itachi stared at him. "Hinata said that you refused to leave her."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean I was supposed to leave her?"

"No. Make no mistake, I'm very glad that you didn't."

"Good. Why didn't you send Sasuke to get her?"

"Sasuke would not have been able to convince her to go with him. No, he wouldn't have bothered trying to convince her. He either would have knocked her out first, or carried her against her will while she fought him. You can imagine why I preferred to send you."

"But Sasuke doesn't get beat?"

Itachi sighed. "Sasuke did exactly what was expected of him. So did you. I can't realistically say that either of you should be punished. I was the one who gave Hinata permission to run. I can only punish myself. So I'm going to tell her that she is no longer allowed to run with us."

Naruto frowned. "She really won't like that. Or you for telling her that."

"I know. But I feel it is best. Perhaps if she convinces herself that she hates me, she will not ask to run again."

"Can't you just tell her the truth?"

"Which is what? That's she's still weak largely because I'm overprotective? No."

"I think you could. I think you should. And if your lying to her makes her cry, I think I should get to beat you."

Itachi frowned at him. "If I thought I deserved to get beaten, I would ask it of someone who could do a good job of it. Jiraiya-sensei, or my mother, but not you."

Naruto frowned. "Huh? Mikoto-san can fight?"

Itachi smiled and walked away. "Wait," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sasuke showed up to breakfast with several bruises on his face.<p>

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke growled.

Normally, if Itachi had beaten Sasuke, Sasuke wouldn't be too proud to admit it, since Naruto got beaten at least as often. This behavior was odd.

"Was it a toad?" Naruto guessed. Shima had whacked him on the head with a stick plenty of times, and for an old toad, she was plenty strong.

"Shut UP, Naruto," Sasuke hissed.

"You boys aren't fighting, are you?" Mikoto asked as she put a pitcher of orange juice on the table.

"No, Mikoto-san," Naruto replied quickly.

"Good," she said approvingly, resting her hand on the back of Sasuke's chair. "Because you know fighting makes our Hina-chan cry."

Naruto was surprised to see that Sasuke actually flinched away as her fingers brushed his shoulder. Then he realized on closer inspection that if Mikoto had made a fist, it would have been a pretty good match for the bruises on Sasuke. And of course, Sasuke would never admit to that.

"Sasuke, Hina-chan will be eating in her room today. Take a plate to her after you're done, would you?" Mikoto added.

"Yes, kaa-san," Sasuke murmured.

Mikoto beamed at him. "My little gentleman." She leaned down and kissed him soundly on his bruised cheek, and from the way Sasuke winced, Naruto was sure she'd done it on purpose.

Sasuke ate quickly and vanished with Hinata's plate, likely to avoid further punishment. The moment Hinata's door closed, Naruto turned to Mikoto and said, "You really hit him, Mikoto-san? I can't believe it!"

"I don't know what you mean, Naru-chan," Mikoto said serenely. "I never hit my boys."

"Well, I know Itachi didn't do it, and it wasn't me."

"If you're asking how Sasuke got hurt, then it must have happened during his sparring session."

"What sparring session?"

"The one I dragged him out of bed for, at around two in the morning."

Naruto gaped at her. "Why? It's too dark to see anything then!"

Mikoto gave him a flat look. "Really? I saw just fine. But then I wasn't blindfolded like Sasuke was."

"Was that really necessary?"

"Naru-chan, Itachi wants you both to be ninja. That's fine, but in this house, you are gentlemen first and ninja second. So long as you remember that, you'll never have to spar with me."

"Well, I kinda want to see you fight now," Naruto admitted. "Just so long as it's not against me."

Mikoto smiled and patted his head. "Maybe I can arrange that sometime."

* * *

><p>Every night, Hinata said the same three prayers to anyone who might be willing to hear them.<p>

She asked for happiness for everyone she knew.

She asked for protection for those she didn't know, but had still impacted her life positively in some way.

Finally, she asked for patience. Not for any reason in particular, or rather, precisely for the reason she was simply unwilling to state aloud: her frail body and the daily challenges it presented her with.

Hinata had tried, with varying degrees of success, reinforcing the muscles in her legs with demonic chakra. Even with the above average chakra control that seemed to come naturally, or at least easier to those of her blood, this was a temporary fix at best. Her legs could indeed withstand more stress and perform better with the tainted chakra pumping through them. And if she could have done that on a permanent basis, there would have been no problem. But using that chakra consistently, even for more than a few minutes, had never been a solution to anything, and in fact caused more problems than it solved. Hinata figured out very quickly that being able to walk farther was not worth the price of losing a piece of her soul.

So she had begun searching for other ways of dealing with her legs, but there had been nothing promising so far. And every day, she had to watch Naruto and Sasuke get stronger, while she remained helpless and weak. And the thought that they would leave her behind somehow hurt far worse than the idea that she had been responsible for her own mother's death.

But the disastrous run had proven what she'd feared: that she was already beyond Itachi's help, and that she would never be able to catch up to her brothers, no matter what she did. In truth, she didn't much care for Sasuke. She had tried and been pushed away at every turn. Even now, Sasuke was only grudgingly polite to her, and only when someone with authority was watching. But Naruto, who was smiles and warmth and light and kindness... if he left her now, she would die. Not even Mikoto's tender care or Itachi's protective arms could prevent that, Hinata suspected. Because Naruto was not just a friend or adopted brother. He was the only one who lived with the same curse and yet somehow managed not to be afraid, and seemingly not even to care that he carried it. And when he looked at her, it made Hinata feel as if she could one day be the same way. Naruto was her hope, but only so long as he stayed within her arm's reach. And yet her asking him to stay with her would make him less brilliant, and dull the special light of his that made her life less dark.

She was going to lose him, and it hurt.

Hinata didn't cry over this, not yet, at least. Instead, she laid awake in her bed and stared at the wall, forgetting that if she didn't at least pretend to be asleep, someone would come in and try to comfort her. Almost certainly Itachi, since it was late and he kept unusual hours, but possibly Mikoto, as she had a habit of checking on all of her children each and every time she woke up.

Sure enough, a few hours later, a gentle hand brushed against her cheek, and Hinata rolled over to see Mikoto kneeling beside the bed. "You couldn't sleep, Hina-chan?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm weak and they're going to leave me behind," Hinata whispered. "Why can't I be strong, Mikoto-san?"

Mikoto sighed deeply. "You know, I once saw a Rock-nin with no arms. He'd lost them years earlier, but he'd trained himself to fight without them. Strictly taijutsu, mind you, but what he could do with those feet was nothing short of-"

"Are you telling me I can be a ninja even if I can't walk for very long?" Hinata interrupted.

"I'm telling you that you can be a ninja as long as you have the will. I'll admit your legs present a certain challenge, but I don't think it's anything you can't overcome. Unfortunately, with things as they are now, you're stuck."

"So there's nothing I can do?"

"Oh, there is," Mikoto said with a smile. "I bet you think Itachi is the greatest ninja ever, and that if he can't help you, no one can, right? But did you ever stop to think that maybe he inherited some of that skill, and not all of it from his father? Because I'll tell you something, Hina-chan: if I had married Fugaku first, I never would have become a jonin. You're just lucky I had sense enough to do the latter first, and that I'm quite capable of training you. My Itachi may be a genius when it comes to being a ninja, but there's plenty he'll never understand about women."

"You would train me?" Hinata asked in shock. "But you never said anything before."

"Because training young ninja isn't easy. You have to be rough with them." Mikoto sighed and stroked Hinata's cheek with a finger. "And I never wanted to be anything but gentle with you, Hina-chan. But I can see how much your heart is hurting right now. So if you really want this, and you're willing to put up with some extremely tough love, I will help you. But I warn you: you're going to hate me before we're done. Though, when we are done, you'll realize just how much Itachi has to love you, to refuse to put you through this himself. So, do I have a new student or not?"

Hinata smiled. "I promise to do my best, Mikoto-sensei."

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 7: Never Forget Your First<strong>

Still smarting from Sakura's sudden refusal to see him, Naruto tries to reconnect with her, but Shikamaru is only making things worse, or is he? The attempt doesn't go as planned, but Naruto does learn something about girls, just not from Sakura.


	8. Never Forget Your First

Notes: So at a reader's suggestion, I will now be including a summary of the previous chapter when I add a new chapter to stories. Problem is, I don't want to leave out anything important, so they're a bit long. But hopefully it refreshes your memory without forcing you to re-read the previous chapter. Unless, of course, you want to, which I fully support.

* * *

><p>Previously in Senjutsu for the Soul:<p>

Naruto accidentally discovered he had inherited his mother's ability to produce chakra chains, though the resulting property damage got him and Sasuke assigned their own young toads to keep an eye on them. Kiba and Chōji tried and failed to pass Enma's test, which left Kiba with the opinion that he needed a dog. Hinata finally convinced Itachi to let her train alongside Naruto and Sasuke, and while this brought her and Naruto closer, it also made her aware of her current limitations. Sasuke got a firm lesson from Mikoto on being a gentleman first and a ninja second. Hinata accepted Mikoto's offer to train her, though more harshly than Itachi had the heart to.

* * *

><p><strong>Senjutsu for the Soul<strong>

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 7: Never Forget Your First**

* * *

><p>The meeting with her mother had been terribly uncomfortable, and Hana wasn't sure why. They had always been able to talk about anything before. Inuzuka Tsume was loud, strict, and extremely rough around the edges, but no one could truthfully say that she lacked love for her kids. When she had pushed Kiba away, it had been as much about protecting him as it had been protecting Hana. Hana knew and understood that. Tsume was both their mother and their clan head, but she could only remain both, and be in a position to shield them from the clan, if they maintained the distance.<p>

It didn't make it any easier.

Kiba was no longer a baby, and Tsume had missed it all. Hana was more his mother now than Tsume ever would be, and they both knew it. And while Tsume would never resent Hana for that, deep down Hana knew she would always resent her mother for not being there, necessary as that had been.

Thankfully, Tsume had plenty to show for abandoning her children. Control of the clan was firmly in her grasp, just as it had been when her children first left, and she was virtually unopposed. She even gave the impression that it had been a simple thing to round up three dogs without any explanation as to where they were going to end up. And not just the expected runts, but top quality pups, at that. Power like that didn't come easily, and Hana was inwardly impressed. But she knew what the price had been, each time she looked into Kiba's eyes and realized that she was really the only family he would likely ever recognize.

Actually getting the puppies back was a bit tricky: Enma had not been thrilled about the idea of them running loose, but he eventually accepted that they were central to every Inuzuka's development. Physically bringing them into his realm was a bit more complicated. Puppies could not learn to summon, and even if they could, they certainly wouldn't have been trusted with the responsibility to do so. Kiba, Chōji, and Shino had become monkey summoners out of necessity, since Enma, Katsuyu, and Gamabunta had all arranged for the children and their approved guardians to have limited travel between the three realms, though it was understood that their ultimate loyalty, at least on paper, was to their home realm. These visits were a closely supervised privilege, however, and it was clear that despite how well the three boss summons got along face-to-face, they never would have reached such a pact without the childrens' welfare being involved. More importantly, though all three bosses were technically loyal to Konoha, Enma was only one loyal directly to the Sandaime Hokage, so it went without saying that his priority, at least where Kiba and Chōji were concerned, was to make them capable ninja that could serve Konoha once they came of age. Hana didn't think it was an accident that Kiba and Chōji, out of all the children, were the two most likely to do just that. However strained, their families had strong, permanent ties to the village, and even if they weren't exactly welcomed back, she knew the Hokage would find a place for them.

They weren't the only ones, however, something Hana was reminded of as she walked towards Shino's cave, only to freeze as Shikamaru suddenly melted out of the shadows of a nearby tree. She nearly dropped the basket containing the puppies, and was only slightly relieved when one of the shadows at Shikamaru's feet formed itself into a black tentacle and reached up to help her keep the basket steady.

"Bad visit?" he asked flatly, clearly noticing the stress in her face.

"You say that like there are any other kind," she replied with a sigh. "And thanks for the help."

"I think this goes without saying," Shikamaru murmured, "but there are some things that certain people are better off not knowing. About their families, for example."

Hana bit her lip and nodded. That was something she'd agreed on with Shikamaru's mother, and it was clearly something she'd told him in turn. Either that or he'd figured it out himself. He always seemed to have a level of intelligence that only someone twice his age would usually possess.

"So? Any good news?"

Hana sighed again. "You say that like-"

"Yeah. I know. Then who doesn't get their bad news?"

"Hinata," Hana replied, and then she leaned down to whisper exactly why in his ear.

Shikamaru's face didn't change, but she saw the way his hands curled into fists so tight that she could soon smell the blood when his fingernails cut into his palms. "I see," he said once she was done.

"How's Shino?" Hana asked softly, because she knew Shikamaru always made a point to speak with him on each visit.

"Miserable and begging for company. But compared to how he was the last time I came, that's an improvement." Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets. "I was just on my way out, actually. I still need to see the others."

Hana knew he meant Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. They were always "the others" to him, the way that Sakura and Ino were his own group, though Sakura more than Ino. "I heard about Naruto's little disappearing act. I hope you're going to talk some sense into him?"

"He's Naruto," Shikamaru said simply. "I know better than to try to talk any sense into him, ever. And if I was going to try, I'd have Sakura with me. No, I'm going mostly to check on Hinata." Noticing the concern in Hana's eyes, he added quickly, "No, nothing like that. She's fine as far as I know. But I heard she was having trouble accepting herself as she is. Thought maybe I could help her, before... I don't know. I don't want her to think she has no options."

Hana didn't like the way he sounded. Because he sounded as if he either knew of or was someone that had already run out of options.

* * *

><p>While Sasuke greatly admired his brother, he liked succeeding on his own more. So despite the strict order to never play with fire without either Itachi, their mother, or Jiraiya present, Sasuke often snuck off on his own to do just that. Gamatatsu was easily silenced by the promise of toasting marshmallows whenever Sasuke did manage to get the fire under control. Of course, when he did mess up, he almost always either burned himself or something else, and his mother always seemed to know when he had, even if the damage wasn't in some place easily visible.<p>

Fortunately, there were suddenly far more opportunities to practice. His mother had begun training Hinata, and while Itachi typically trained both Naruto and Sasuke, more and more often he would give them tasks to work on individually while he was otherwise occupied. And since Sasuke knew for a fact that his mother's training was far too brutal on Hinata, there was absolutely no chance of her peeking at him with her Byakugan. Naruto wouldn't squeal if he knew, because Sasuke knew he was practicing with those weird chakra chains every chance he got, which he wasn't supposed to do without supervision, either.

Sasuke figured he had found a good hiding spot in the mountains to practice. He'd never seen anyone else there, and it was still close enough to the house where he could get back in a hurry if he had to. Anyone who knew his chakra signature well enough would be able to find him in a matter of minutes, but then he didn't really want to be accused of actively hiding. Itachi might appreciate the difference, depending on his mood, but their mother would definitely not.

He'd only been practicing for about ten minutes when a familiar chakra signature made itself known to him, and Sasuke cursed inwardly. "Shikamaru," he muttered as the boy in question stepped out from behind a boulder. The bad thing about Shikamaru was that Sasuke could never see him coming unless Shikamaru wanted him to (which was never). His chakra control was that good already, but then he supposedly had less chakra than the rest of the nine children. It also meant that Shikamaru had probably been watching Sasuke since he'd first left the house.

"Your control's improving," Shikamaru noted with a tilt of his head. "Sensing is still a bit below average, but you'll learn."

"Do you want something?" Sasuke asked, glaring at him.

"Oh, sure. I always want something. The real question is whether or not you can deliver."

Sasuke tensed slightly. He was pretty sure Shikamaru couldn't beat him in a straight-up fight. At least, assuming that he saw Shikamaru coming, and that Shikamaru didn't cheat, both of which were highly unlikely.

"Hinata," Shikamaru said at last. "I hear her training is coming along well."

"So?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru blinked and sighed. "You really don't get it, do you? Fine, I'll explain." He stepped closer and far too casually placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke was tempted to shrug the hand off, but thought better of it. "What? I'm listening."

"As of right now, she's probably the weakest of us. Naruto tries, but he can't always be there for her. Don't get the wrong idea, though. Nobody expects you to hold her hand, least of all Hinata herself." The grip on Sasuke's shoulder tightened well past the point of pain. "But if you ever walk right past her while she's clearly in need of help again, I will do everything in my power to torture you short of killing you, Uchiha."

Before Sasuke could move, something impossibly cold curled loosely around his neck. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was, all things considered.

"Consider this a friendly warning," Shikamaru said as he removed his hand. "If you need to have this conversation again, next time it'll be Sakura who comes, and she's already come up with a special genjutsu for the occasion. I don't know how it cancels out the Sharingan the way it does, but Itachi assures me that it's very effective. And I doubt yours is anywhere as mature as his. Just something to keep in mind, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed flatly.

"Good. Glad we had this talk." Shikamaru made a slight gesture with his left hand, and the cold thing around Sasuke's neck vanished. "I like you, Sasuke. You're a jerk, but you're consistent. You just make sure that you're _our_ jerk next time."

* * *

><p>Naruto was fairly annoyed when he returned from his secret training to see Hinata on the front porch talking to Shikamaru. It wasn't that he didn't trust Shikamaru, at least as far as Hinata went. Shikamaru clearly loved her the way anyone with some sense and a working heart would, so that was no problem. Naruto didn't like Shikamaru because he was close to Sakura in a way that no one else was. They were almost always together, talking softly, or worse, not saying anything because they didn't need to in order to understand each other. Naruto would have given anything to have such a connection with Sakura, and Shikamaru knew that.<p>

As Hinata noticed Naruto, she beamed and waved at him. He waved back almost automatically, unable to suppress the surge of pride and affection in his heart, not that he really tried. She was getting stronger, thanks to Mikoto's training. Naruto wasn't sure how they managed it, but suddenly Hinata was waking up early to go for walks with Gamashiro, and doing leg curls in her room. Her face still flushed easily, so it was clear when she'd been exercising, but the fainting spells seemed to have stopped altogether and there was even tentative talk of her running again, although on a much shorter trail. Naruto was proud of her, and it was a new experience for him. He had never been ashamed of her, but Hinata had always been so quiet and gentle that if she had done something noteworthy, Naruto had probably overlooked it without meaning to. But at this rate, even Sasuke would have to admit that Hinata was improving soon, if only because Itachi and Mikoto forced him to say so.

Shikamaru gave no sign of greeting other than his usual unenthusiastic stare, but Naruto knew a Nara could say so many things with a stare like that.

"You came alone?" Naruto asked, frowning at him.

"No. Shizune-san came over with me," Shikamaru replied, knowing very well that Naruto hadn't meant her. He could never make things that simple.

Naruto was thinking of asking Hinata to go inside so he could yell at Shikamaru in private, but couldn't decide on a nice way to do it. If Hinata could sense the tension between he and Shikamaru, then she most likely wasn't going anywhere.

Shikamaru finally turned to Hinata. "I want to talk to Naruto about something in private, Hinata. Could you give us a few minutes? I'll come and see you before I leave."

Hinata glanced between them uneasily and bit her lip. "Okay," she said at last. She got up and went inside, but took her time doing so, as if she expected a fight to break out the moment she was out of earshot.

Shikamaru sighed and turned back to Naruto. "Sakura didn't want to come."

"Why not?" Naruto demanded at once.

"She claims she's tired of fighting with you."

"And what do you think?"

"I know she is." Shikamaru closed his eyes and laced his fingers together. "Naruto, let me give you some free advice. We all know how you feel about Sakura, and so does she. That's no secret. Focus on that, okay? You aren't going to win her heart by telling her she's wrong, or even by convincing her that you're right. She's made up her mind. If you keep pushing this, you're going to push her right into someone else."

"Someone else like you?" Naruto asked, unable to keep the accusation out of his voice.

Shikamaru opened his eyes. "Are you listening to yourself right now? If I wanted Sakura, I _wouldn't_ come here to warn you that you're losing her. I'd just take her and not say anything. And if you knew anything about Sakura, you'd know that she doesn't do anything without considering it carefully first. So if she did choose someone other than you, it would only mean that you had plenty of time to fix this and _still_ blew it."

"You didn't deny it," Naruto noted.

With a sigh, Shikamaru stood up. "Forget what I'm _not_ saying, and listen to what I _am_. I'm trying to help you, Naruto. You and Sakura have two completely different perspectives on the fox's power, and you'll never agree on it. So the least you could do is stop bringing it up."

"I can't!" Naruto snapped. "I have to save her! I have to save you all! It's my job and-"

"And I'm sure that's what Kushina-sama told _you_. In _your_ seal. It's not what she told me in mine, or Sakura in hers. We appreciate the assist, Naruto, but if we need or want your help, we'll ask for it. You have no idea what Sakura has learned, no idea what she can do on her own, because you're still stuck on trying to save her."

"And I suppose you do know what she's learned."

Shikamaru glared at him. "Fine. I wasn't supposed to tell you this much, but I can see you won't believe me any other way. Sakura knows the fox's name. The fox's true name, not the one humans gave him. Knowing that gives her power, if not over the fox, then at least over part of her seal. But the catch is, the only one who can tell you that name is the fox himself. Now I want you to stop and think, Naruto: if Sakura could get the fox to tell her his true name, do you really think you have any chance of convincing her that she's wrong or needs saving? If anything, she's closer to saving us all than you are. So take a step back and check your damn ego. Sakura doesn't need you to save her. And if she did, she'd ask, because we all know you'd do anything for her. So do this for her instead: back off, at least on that issue. All you're doing is making Sakura reluctant to even see you. Which is exactly why she didn't come today." Shikamaru took a deep breath and released it. "Now. I have to go back soon. You're welcome to join me. Ino wanted to ask you about doing her a favor, anyway. But if you can't stow the ego, you better believe Sakura will make herself scarce, and you won't see her at all. That, I can promise you."

Naruto looked away, trying to take it all in. Not once had he ever considered the fox anything more than a monster that he had to keep restrained. He didn't fear it, and had no real need to, thanks to his mother's protection. As far as it having a name, he never would have guessed or cared to find out at all. But since Sakura alone had, maybe her way was something to consider, if for no other reason than to stop pushing her away.

"So?" Shikamaru asked. "Should I tell Ino you'll come some other day?"

"No. I'll go with you," Naruto muttered.

Shikamaru nodded, apparently pleased. "And Sakura?"

"I've never refused to see her, no matter how I felt," Naruto insisted. "If she wants to see me, I'm not hard to find."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then she'll have to tell me that in person."

Shikamaru sighed. "Be careful, Naruto. I don't think you're approaching this the right way, and I don't want either of you to get hurt. If all you want is to fight, then fight me and leave Sakura alone."

Naruto looked at Shikmaru in disbelief. "Are you stupid? Why would I ever want to fight with Sakura-chan? I love her!"

"Then maybe you should try showing it by not latching onto something you know is a sore spot for her. You do it for Hinata every day by not focusing on her condition, I know you do. Have you ever stopped to consider what kind of message that sends to Sakura? That you treat another girl better than her? Or at least that you choose not to fight with Hinata? Is it any wonder she has doubts that you really love her? I have to say, I feel the same way sometimes. If you love Sakura, maybe all she needs to accept your feelings is for you to prove it."

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi winced as he received yet another stinging blow to the head.<p>

"Again, boy," Shima commanded, waving the stick in her grasp like a scepter. "You said you wanted to come up here for training, not wasting my time. So get to it!"

"Yes, Shima-sensei," Itachi murmured, closing his eyes and doing his best to ignore the pain. After a few seconds, the wind shifted as Itachi reached out with his senses, drawing on the energy of the nature that surrounded them and molding it into a form that he could manipulate more freely. Though the process itself was draining, the agony that accompanied it was far worse, as Itachi felt as if every cell of his body had been frozen in ice and then shattered repeatedly.

If only it had been fire instead. Fire, he could handle. Fire he had become well-versed in. After two years of constant training inside of Gamaryuu's mouth, fire didn't even phase Itachi anymore.

Seconds later, he took another blow to the head via Shima's stick. "_Focus_, I said!" she cried, giving him a sharp poke as well. "You were gathering the energy far too fast! Do you want to end up a stone toad for all eternity?"

Itachi frowned and rubbed the rising knot on his head. "Of course not, Shima-sensei." And then, because her gaze did not immediately soften, he said it again: "Of course not."

Shima grumbled deep in her throat. "Well, try it again," she ordered. "Slowly."

He nodded. "Yes, Shima-sensei." Itachi began to close his eyes, but Shima halted him with a quick wave.

"Wait." Her eyes narrowed, far too knowingly for Itachi's liking. "Gathering natural energy doesn't seem to be a problem for you. If anything, you're too good at it already, for having just started the training. So for the next try, do it without the special toad oil."

Itachi opened his mouth to protest immediately. "But-"

"I said _no oil_, boy," Shima commanded. "Wipe it off."

Sighing, Itachi stood up to retrieve a towel from his pack and began to wipe away the oil that coated his body like a second skin. "I really do think this will slow down my progress, Shima-sensei."

"You learn far too quickly for my liking. Maybe taking things slow is just what you need right now."

"And if I die tonight, according to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy?" he challenged.

Shima snorted. "Then you die a toad sage in training. Which is still arguably better than dying a stone toad."

"I don't have time for this, Shima-sensei."

"No? Then unless you've discovered how to master Senjutsu in one night while you sleep, I suggest you make time. I am the only sage on this mountain that will teach you Senjutsu, and if you don't like it, tough! Maybe you can still protect those children with what you've learned so far, but you will never reach the final step without _my_ teaching!"

Itachi sighed. "I apologize for my impatience, but if I die, there might not be another sage for decades. If I fail, I don't want it to be for lack of trying."

"You're my student. You're not going to fail," Shima replied. "Not so long as you listen to me. If you lack confidence in that, you're never going to succeed. So, either we can do this my way now, or we can start fresh tomorrow and do it my way then."

Left with little choice, Itachi took his seat again. "I'm ready to continue, Shima-sensei."

"Hmm. We'll see, boy. Once again from the top!"

* * *

><p>"So he's with Ino-pig now," Sakura murmured, crouching down behind a bush as she locked her gaze on the house. "Well, that's good."<p>

"How do you figure that?" Shikamaru asked, watching her carefully.

"Isn't it obvious? Every time I get anywhere near Naruto, we end up fighting. But Ino adores him, so after talking with her, they're both bound to be in a good mood. That, plus your little chat with him earlier, means there's a chance we actually might not fight this time."

"I think you should be a little more worried about this, Sakura."

"You think I should be a little more worried about a guy who I don't like possibly no longer liking me?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "That wasn't what we talked about at all. All I did was tell Naruto that his fighting with you was just making you mad. He's just as devoted to being in love with you as he ever was. Maybe even more so, now." He paused, then added in an accusing tone, "And you never flat out said that you didn't like Naruto."

Sakura frowned, avoiding his knowing gaze. "Fine. I meant that I don't like him liking me as much as he does."

"Okay. But that's never bothered him before. All I'm saying is don't get your hopes up. Maybe he won't be as much of a jerk this time, but he hasn't really changed that much."

"Shika, anything would be an improvement at this point. If he says one more time that he's going to marry me one day, I just might strangle-"

They both fell silent as Naruto emerged from the house. Shikamaru knew right away something was terribly wrong: Naruto didn't look happy. He looked drained, both emotionally and physically, and most alarming of all, his hair was a deep, deep red. "Isn't that-?" he began to say, but Sakura finished the half-formed thought for him.

"Kushina-sama's hair. It means he was using those chakra chains again, and not just a few of them. His hair only changes if he produces over a certain amount."

"Why would he need those for talking with Ino, though?"

Sakura shot him a look. "I think it means it wasn't Ino he was talking to."

After a long pause, Naruto slowly began to walk down the path. As he neared the bush where they were hiding, Sakura's body tensed up but did not move. Shikamaru felt sure that she had abandoned her plan to confront Naruto at first, as neither of them had expected the red hair to come into play. But as Naruto passed the bush, Sakura seemed to grow more agitated, until with almost no warning, she leaped onto path and shouted Naruto's name.

Naruto didn't stop walking. He didn't even seem to have heard her. Not until she called him again. Only then did he pause and slowly look over his shoulder.

Shikmaru waited for the blinding smile, the joyous cry of "Sakura-chan!", and the renewed bounce in Naruto's step as he ran to her, but deep down, he knew they wouldn't be coming, and he was quickly proven right.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said slowly, "right now... isn't really a good time for me to talk with anyone."

Even Sakura seemed surprised then, and with good reason: Naruto had never refused her anything that wasn't related at least indirectly to the fox. Which, disturbingly enough, further implied that this was. "It's really important, Naruto, and it can't wait," she insisted.

Naruto didn't agree, nor did he refuse. He simply sighed and walked back up the path to her, pausing several feet away. Then he glanced at the bush and added, "Shikamaru, if you're hiding from me, you might as well stop."

Shikamaru raised his head above the bush. "Sure you two don't want some privacy?"

"I don't think it's going to matter," Naruto answered. "If Sakura-chan and I had the kind of relationship where she felt the need to keep anything I said private, I doubt we'd be in this mess."

Sakura frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Naruto shook his head. "Exactly what I said. Right now you're closer to him than you are me, so I doubt there would be any privacy even if I wanted it."

Sakura couldn't really deny that, so she let it go. "I wanted to explain why I didn't visit you with Shikamaru today."

"You don't need to. I figured it out, and Shikamaru told me: you didn't want to see me. I get it."

"It's not that I didn't want to see you at all," Sakura disagreed. "I just-"

"You didn't want to fight with me," Naruto interrupted. "Fine. But you know something, Sakura-chan? The way I feel about you, I'd want to see you even if you were mad at me. Especially if you were, really. I guess that's yet another way that we're different. Yet another way that I feel and you don't. I think I shouldn't really be surprised. It's not exactly the first sign that you've given me. Maybe I've just been too stupid to realize it."

"Naruto, you're not stupid," Sakura sighed. "Yes, I didn't want to fight with you, and no, I don't feel the way about you that you do about me. That doesn't mean we aren't friends."

Naruto smirked. "Actually, I think that's exactly what refusing to see me means. Even Sasuke doesn't do that, and he hates my guts half the time. But don't worry, Sakura-chan, I get it now. It took talking to Shikamaru and Ino to open my eyes, but I finally realize what I've been doing wrong all this time. I keep saying that I love you, but I haven't shown you that yet."

"Naruto, you don't-" Sakura began, and gasped as Naruto got down on his knees and lowered his head to the ground. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. For making my love yet another burden that you had to bear, when I was supposed to be helping you share the load. So if you want, right here and now, I promise that I'll never tell you that I love you again until I'm actually ready to do something about it."

Sakura stared down at the top of his head in shocked silence. Of all the things she'd expected, that hadn't been one of them.

After several long moments, Naruto slowly raised his head to look at her. "Is that what you want, Sakura-chan?" he asked softly. "For me to never say it again until we're both ready to hear it? If that's not enough, I could promise to never say it again at all, if that would make you happy."

Shikamaru held his breath. If Sakura wanted to reject Naruto openly and utterly, she would never get a better chance. If she wanted to, that is. And he was now more certain than ever that she didn't want to and wouldn't.

Sakura hesitantly approached Naruto and sank to her knees in front of him. She reached out and grasped his face in her hands. "All I wanted, Naruto, was for you to stop saying it and start showing it. Promise me that from now on, instead of stating your love, you'll show it. People say plenty of things, but their actions are what matter. If you're so sure that you love me, then right here, right now, show me."

Naruto stood up at once, and Sakura followed, though a little slower. For a moment, they merely stared at each other. Then Naruto stepped closer, slid his arms around her waist, and slowly pulled her to him. It was not the first time they'd hugged, as Naruto had managed to steal one every now and then, but it was the first time in recent memory that Sakura hadn't immediately broken free and punched him in the head.

"You're different now," Sakura murmured against his shoulder. "What happened with Ino?" She could not help noticing the way he stiffened at the girl's name, which was truly odd.

"She made me realize that love isn't something to be taken so lightly. It's a commitment that I have to prove myself worthy of. If I'm not ready to do that, I've got no right to say it to you, Sakura-chan."

"Naruto, you talk as if you needed my permission to love me," Sakura whispered. "You don't, really. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way."

"Knowing everything you do about me, would you give me your permission, if I asked for it now?"

"Yes," Sakura answered at once. "But you don't need it. Just give me a little breathing room from time to time, and we'll be fine."

"There's a 'we' now?" Naruto asked hopefully. "You never said that before."

"There's a 'we' for the time being," Sakura corrected. "But don't get your hopes up. I haven't said yes to anything, and I can always change my mind. You could, too."

Naruto grinned at her. "No, I won't. I'll never give up on you, Sakura-chan."

She shook her head and stepped back. "Then you've got no one to blame but yourself. Just remember that I did warn you."

"That's pretty much what I told him," Shikamaru chimed in. "And just so you know, Naruto, I was never interested in Sakura that way."

Naruto glared at him. "You could have said that!"

"Pretty sure I did," Shikamaru replied with a shrug. "Or at least that I implied it, in that I've, you know, _never_ been interested in Sakura that way. As for why I didn't say so outright, if you had so little faith in your love that you were threatened by a guy who has no interest in being with Sakura, maybe you need to look into that. And just because I don't want to be Sakura's boyfriend doesn't mean I'm not her friend. So if I want to deflect trouble for her, that's totally my call. You might have thought of that if you weren't so busy not thinking at all. But if Sakura can keep putting up with you, I guess I will, too. Just don't expect me to hug you."

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was seated on a boulder, brainstorming some ideas for his next novel, when Naruto finally reappeared on the path below, an obvious spring in his step. Considering how tense the boy had looked when they'd first arrived, it was quite a change, one that Jiraiya was naturally curious about. "So how'd it go?"<p>

"Great," Naruto said simply, beaming at him.

"Really." Jiraiya slid off the boulder and eyed the boy doubtfully. "So you and Sakura made up?"

"Sure did." Naruto continued to smile. He had learned long ago not to offer Jiraiya any extra details on his relationship with Sakura, as they tended to end up published in adult novels. And even if the characters had different names, Naruto was smart enough to know that he wasn't seeing any of the proceeds that his unwilling contribution should have awarded him. For one thing, he'd have to admit that he actually read the books, and Mikoto wouldn't stand for that. So the best thing he could do was keep his answers short and totally lacking details.

"Ino's okay, then?" Jiraiya asked, switching topics with unusual speed. Naruto was used to him begging for info on Sakura for at least ten minutes, so this was completely unexpected.

"No," Naruto answered at last. "She wanted me to be her first kiss."

Jiraiya gaped at him. "You lucky little brat! How is that _not_ okay?!" he demanded.

Naruto glared. "She wanted me to be her first kiss because she expects to be dead within a year. She won't say how, but I get the feeling she's had a lot of time to think about possibly killing herself, and that she's found a way that even the fox can't stop."

"I see." After a very long pause, Jiraiya added, "Well, did you?"

"Did I what?" Naruto asked.

"Kiss her, you fool! Don't tell me you didn't grant a cute dying girl's last wish for a first kiss!" He was greatly relieved to see that Naruto turned bright red.

"I knew I never should have said anything. The point of this story isn't the kiss, you old pervert!"

"Maybe not for you. But if it's not, then I hope it's why you felt the need to use your mother's chakra chains. Because that was my next question."

Naruto bit his lip hard enough to draw blood before he answered. "The point is, I don't think she's wrong to feel the way she does."

Frowning, Jiraiya started to offer him a handkerchief to catch the blood, but Naruto waved off the offer. "That's a dangerous way to think, kid."

"Maybe. Doesn't mean it's wrong." The coppery taste of his own blood barely even registered to Naruto. He could still taste Ino's soft, warm lips on his, and feel the dampness of her tears on his skin, and hear her heart-wrenching pleas in his ears. Most of all, though, he could see the crimson hatred abruptly bleeding into her adoring eyes, and feel her clawed nails going for his throat as the Nine Tails laughed through those same lips he had thought so sweet only seconds before. Naruto didn't know what else the fox was capable of making Ino do, and he never wanted to find out. He had lashed out at her without thinking, tightly binding her to her own bed with as much chain as he had ever dared to produce at one time. And though the fox had retreated, Ino had also immediately passed out, and Naruto could not say whether it was from exhaustion, or from him crushing the breath out of her. It was the first time he had ever managed to drive the fox away outside of his own seal, but the victory had been hollow at best. Upon waking, Ino's only concern had been that she hadn't hurt Naruto. She hadn't seemed to care at all about Naruto telling anyone else what he'd witnessed, and that was something that had bothered him deeply. Because it implied that everyone else had already known. Everyone but him, anyway.

"So what do you plan to do?" Jiraiya asked.

"Same thing I always did: get stronger, fast. I'm already too far behind some of the others."

"You really think so, brat? Maybe you just don't realize what you've accomplished already. Jutsu with visible chakra are no small thing, and in your life you might only meet a handful of people who can produce anything more substantial than strings of it that you can see easily. You might have only inherited your mother's chains so far, but even that is huge, especially considering the amount you can produce, and how you learned to use them. But knowing your parents the way I did, I figure they've got plenty more in store for you. Besides, you haven't seen everything that your father's left you yet. Maybe he didn't leave it specifically for you, but I can tell you only people that were close to him can show you this."

Naruto watched in awe as a blue, whirling ball of chakra gradually formed in Jiraiya's hand. "W-What is that?" he whispered.

"One of several things that your father would be proud for you to have. And in case you forgot, you also inherited his role as a toad summoner, which he got from me."

"You mean you're the reason I'm stuck with Gamakichi?" Naruto complained with a frown.

Jiraiya laughed and let the chakra in his hand fade. "No, the reason you got him is because you sleepwalked out of your house in the middle of the night, then destroyed a third of the house upon your return. And you can't blame that on your mother, because Sasuke and Hinata managed to stay put and not break anything."

"Well, I'm her only child. Maybe she only intended for me to hear what she had to say."

"Of course she did," Jiraiya said at once, a serious expression on her face. "You're the one she carried for nine months. You're the one that looks just like Minato. You're their boy, and anyone who says different is either uninformed or a filthy liar, and in either case that isn't your problem. All you kids are gifted, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if you're the only one that can pull off the jutsu that were unique to your parents. From the moment she learned she was pregnant, Kushina devoted her life to you, kid. You don't need me to tell you this, but I will: you're only an orphan because your parents laid down their lives to protect you. Nothing but death could have prevented them from being here for you now, if they could."

Naruto smiled sadly as he gripped his stomach with one hand. "And even then, she found a way," he murmured.

* * *

><p>"You're in a good mood today."<p>

"Yes," Hinata murmured softly, offering the woman at her side a smile. "Mikoto-sensei says I have improved beyond her expectations. And I could tell she wasn't lying."

"Are you sure? She's a kunoichi, after all. And I can promise you, no Uchiha makes jōnin without knowing how to lie, especially to a Hyūga."

Hinata shook her head. "If this is how you talk about your friends, I would hate to hear how you describe your enemies, Kushina-sama."

Kushina pouted at her. "I was trying to make a point, you know. You're supposed to be taking this seriously."

"If you were talking about any other Uchiha, I would. We both know that if Mikoto-sensei was going to lie to me, she would have an excellent reason. But we also know that I am not about to blindly trust anyone. That was the lesson, yes?"

"Not quite. The lesson is that it is in a shinobi's nature to deceive. Lying is just one way to do it. Controlling information is another. Deciding how much or how little someone knows can be an effective weapon."

Hinata nodded. "I can appreciate the lesson, but can we stop discussing Mikoto-sensei as an opponent, please?"

"Who says I was talking about her?" Kushina countered.

"Then who were you referring to?" Hinata asked with a frown.

Kushina did not answer right away. "Did you know that the seal arrays on each of you kids are not entirely independent of each other?"

"Yes, they work together. You've told me."

"True, but not exactly what I meant. There is a limited exchange when they come in contact with each other."

Hinata blinked slowly. "You can communicate with the other versions of yourself when we touch?"

Kushina nodded. "I like to stay current. For example, I know that one of you had a lengthy discussion with Hana after one of her trips home."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Which means you know what's going on in Konoha."

"Things change rapidly in a hidden village. You can't be away from one as long as you guys have and expect everything to stay the same."

"What aren't you saying, Kushina-sama?"

"This is a lesson, Hinata. You're a smart girl. So why don't you tell me what I'm not telling you?"

"It involves the village," Hinata murmured. "And from my perspective, it must be bad news, since the person who found out from Hana hasn't told me yet. And that person must be Shikamaru, since he's the best at keeping information to himself. I haven't noticed anyone else acting differently around me, so he likely hasn't told anyone else."

"I haven't, either," Kushina added. "Well, any of me, that is."

"It's about my clan, isn't it? There isn't really anything else in Konoha that would impact me." Hinata hesitated, and then asked, "Is it Kō? Have they found him?"

Kushina shook her head. "Still no word, sorry."

Hinata sighed and looked away. She had been far too young to remember anything about her intended, clan-approved caretaker, so all she had to go on was what people had told her of him. Itachi always assured her that she wasn't missing anything, as Kō had not exactly been a pleasant person, and she was better off without him. This hardly mattered to Hinata, however: Kō had known her mother well, and for that sort of information, Hinata would have gladly put up with a bad attitude. However, on the same day that Kō should have come to Mount Myōboku with everyone else, he had simply vanished. Her clan had made several inquiries, of course: even as a sealed member of the Branch House, Kō could still potentially either have his Byakugan forcefully taken from him, or spread the Byakugan to any number of places outside of Konoha. So no matter how little value they placed on his life, they would go to considerable trouble to locate him. There were precious few people who could remain hidden from search squads comprised of Hyūga eyes and Inuzuka noses, and Kō simply had not been experienced enough to do so. That implied that whether he left under his own power or was taken against his will, someone far more knowledgeable of the Byakugan in particular, and Konoha ninja in general, had been involved.

"If I know my clan, they would have remained rigid and unchanging, as always," Hinata said. "Which can only mean that they have finally selected a new heir. If anything, I'm surprised they waited as long as they did."

"There was a prolonged debate because of your 'special status' and all," Kushina noted, rolling her eyes. "Which is pretty odd for them, they tend to be predictably bigoted in most matters. So either your father resisted the selection as long as he could, which I doubt, or the Branch House demanded that you be recognized as heir."

Hinata was shocked by the very suggestion. "Why would they do that? They don't even know me!"

"True. But they know that you, like them, are held in low regard by the Main House, and perhaps they sympathize with you because of it. It doesn't hurt that your mother was kind to all Hyūga, especially the Branch House, and they would prefer you as heir to almost anyone the Main House would select. And no matter how much control the Main House likes to think they have over the clan, they can't very well continue to function if the Branch House as a whole threatens to revolt. Normally the Main House might just force them all to obey, but with Kō's disappearance still unresolved, they probably don't want to risk any more of their eyes ending up outside of Konoha, which could easily happen if any Branch House members escaped during a conflict. And no matter what the Main House says, they at least value the Branch House enough not to kill them all off at once. They wouldn't have any servants, for one thing, and I doubt there's a single person outside of the clan that they could pay to work for them. You'd have to be crazy to want to be treated like a Branch House member."

"But then, why would the Branch House give in because of a new heir?" Hinata asked.

"It must have been some sort of compromise," Kushina replied. "The only thing I can imagine is that the Main House member who was selected somehow had strong ties to the Branch House. Maybe another set of twins, like your father and uncle, or-"

"Maybe my father has replaced my mother," Hinata said softly, unable to keep the pain out of her voice, "and his new child is finally of selection age."

"Lesson over," Kushina murmured.

"I'm not surprised," Hinata admitted. "I dreaded it for a long time. But there is only so much reverence for the dead. If my father had not provided a new heir, I doubt he would still be clan head. When I see him, I will decide my feelings on the matter. After I thank those who were loyal to me despite the threat to their own lives."

"Those who have been sealed can always find friendship in those like them," Kushina told her.

"That's why you did it, isn't it?" Hinata guessed. "So Naruto would have us?"

"I have found that a person alone, with no options, has nothing to lose. And so when they make their own options, those tend to be born of desperation, and have little regard for anyone they might harm in the process. The worst thing you could do is give that sort of person any amount of demonic chakra. But that is exactly what so many people think I should have done to my own son. And unless Naruto were an extremely forgiving person, which I could not guarantee even if I was there to raise him, he could easily have become the greatest threat to Konoha in the village's history."

"I don't know," Hinata disagreed. "I choose to believe that even without you, or Mikoto-sensei, Naruto would still become a good man. You told me that he came from one."

Kushina smirked. "I also told you that I was a hothead of the first order, and that I could hold a grudge like nobody's business. Naruto easily could have gotten that from me."

"He would still be a good man," Hinata insisted, blushing slightly. "Just... one with a temper."

Kushina chuckled and shook her head, marveling at how Hinata could see the best in anyone, and forgive seemingly anything. But Kushina was grateful for that. She definitely didn't think she'd ever be so friendly with someone that had indirectly killed her own mother. Hinata was strange that way, but in a decidedly good way. Of course, it helped that her clan was no prize, and as bad as Hinata's situation was now, it could have easily been worse if she'd been raised by them. It was a fact, individual people were just more reasonable than large groups. Especially large groups devoted to a certain outdated way of thinking. Perhaps the only clan Kushina might have trusted to raise Hinata without bias might have been the Aburame, and even then she never would have allowed it. She just felt that having bugs inhabit your body was the sort of thing people had to make an informed decision about, and that Academy age was far too young to have a proper understanding of the choice.

* * *

><p>"Say nothing," Hyūga Hiashi instructed before he opened the door. "What you are about to witness is strictly classified. No one will learn of this from you."<p>

The girl nodded, keeping her face blank with the ease of long practice.

Hiashi led the way into the hospital room, and the girl followed. While she immediately recognized the older boy in the bed as a Hyūga, she had never seen his face before, which was curious enough. At least, she had never seen portion of his face that was uncovered, as there was a large mass of white bandages wrapped around the entire left half of his face. The boy was awake, but he was staring at the ceiling, and did not seem to be aware of their presence until Hiashi spoke.

"You have been gone a long time, Kō," Hiashi said softly.

The boy's exposed eye instantly locked on the man. "Hiashi-sama," he breathed. "Then... I'm in the village?"

"Yes. I am told that you have no memory of the time you were missing?"

Kō shook his head weakly. "I remember your orders... preparing to leave the village with the others... then nothing, until the hunter-nin found me." He paused and shut his eye. "I have... failed you."

Hiashi cleared his throat. "Technically, no. I receive regular confirmation that Hinata is alive and healthy. That is not the matter of concern, at the moment."

"I understand," Kō replied. "You... wish to know what happened to my eye."

Hiashi frowned. "Obviously, it was taken from you. There is little we can do about that, until and unless your memory can be restored."

The girl's curiousity was peaked, and without thinking, she activated her Byakugan and looked through Kō's bandages, only to find a gaping hole where his left eye should have been. Even though she had expected to see this, somehow the hole seemed to grow deeper and darker under her gaze, as if threatening to swallow them all.

Her shocked gasp must have given her away, because Hiashi suddenly whirled around. "Hanabi!" he hissed.

"Your heir is very perceptive, Hiashi-sama," Kō said. "A true credit to the clan."

Hiashi appeared to be struggling with whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. Finally, he shook his head. "You will undergo an extensive examination tomorrow, Kō. I trust I do not need to stress how vital it is that we discover what happened to you. As a result, the tests will prove rather invasive and unpleasant, but you must endure them without complaint, for the sake of both the clan and the village."

"Of course, Hiashi-sama," Kō responded. "It is the least I can do." He turned his head to Hanabi, offering her a polite nod. "I look forward to serving you, Hanabi-sama."

Feeling her father's gaze on her, Hanabi nodded stiffly, but said nothing.

There was a knock at the door. "Apologies, Hiashi-sama, but the Hokage requests your presence immediately. Some new information has come to light."

Hiashi frowned. "Hanabi, stay here. I will return shortly." He paused, then added, "Once he is cleared for active duty, Kō will join your personal security detail. I have instructed Neji to help him adjust, but you should take this time to inform him of what you expect." With that, he quickly left the room.

Hanabi tried to look anywhere but at Kō, but somehow found her gaze drawn back to his face.

"I know it is unpleasant to look at," Kō murmured, running his fingers lightly over the bandages. "But I expect it will be that much more intimidating for those that might seek to harm you."

"You were assigned to Hinata," Hanabi said after a long moment. "My... sister?"

"Yes. A duty I was clearly unsuited for." He paused, then added, "Before you ask, she was only a baby when I knew her. There is very little I could tell you about her. And what I could say may not be allowed."

Hanabi frowned, recognizing that she was not a fan of anyone knowing her thoughts before she spoke them aloud.

"You should not concern yourself with Hinata-sama," Kō continued. "I doubt she will ever be a threat to you. Even if she were to return today, you are the heir, and you have the clan's support."

"So long as anyone refers to her that way, I think I will concern myself," Hanabi disagreed. "If you intend to protect me, you will start by giving me any and all information I consider relevant to my safety. That includes anything you know about my sister. So unless you intend to depend on the supposed mercy of the elders to reassign you somewhere more suitable, I suggest you start talking."

Kō stared at her for a long moment, considering her words. Finally, he nodded slowly. "As you command, Hanabi-sama."

Hanabi startled him slightly by seating herself on the end of his bed, gazing at him expectantly. "You're nothing like Neji," she commented thoughtfully, tilting her head thoughtfully for a bit. Abruptly, she smirked confidently and leaned forward. "I think I'm going to like you, Kō."

Puzzled but not entirely displeased by that statement, Kō began to share everything he could recall about Hinata.

* * *

><p><strong>Continued in Chapter 8: Sacrificial<strong>

A training accident leads Hinata to discover a new power within herself, one that may be the answer to her problems. The true nature of Itachi's quest comes to light, but too late to prevent. But is it a tragedy, or a release from suffering?


End file.
